THE Nuts AND Bolts OF Irrigation Scheduling Going Beyond 15 Minutes for Sprays and 45 Minutes for Turf Plant Water Requirement J F M A M J J A S O N D Months of the Year Presented by: Daniel R. Veltema Irrigation Association Regional Instructor

877.396.1956 danv@springbrooksupply.com Landscape and Irrigation Industry since 1984 Contracting Distribution Instructor Certifications Irrigation Designer Residential Commercial Landscape Irr. Auditor Sprinkler Water Sense Irrigation Professional Daniel R. Veltema Owner Spring Brook Supply Irrigation Distributor 877.396.1956 danv@springbrooksupply.com

Question Who here is responsible for adjusting the controller programming? Where did the 15 minutes for sprays/45minutes for rotors runtime “rule” originate?

Integrated Water Management Presented by Kurt K. Thompson Sponsored by the Professional Grounds Maintenance Society The Fundamentals November, 2003 G.I.E Expo - St. Louis, MO

Irrigation Management Integrated Water Management Presented by Kurt K. Thompson Sponsored by the Professional Grounds Maintenance Society Irrigation Management Irrigation supplements rainfall Irrigate when needed, NOT when scheduled Install a rain switch or soil moisture sensor Adjust the irrigation schedule every month of the growing season November, 2003 G.I.E Expo - St. Louis, MO

Goals of an Irrigation Schedule Healthy Plants Minimal inputs Fertilizer Herbicides Pesticides Water Acceptable Appearance Lush Lean

Elements of an Irrigation Schedule Quantity How Much? Frequency How Often? What factors affect each?

Elements of an Irrigation Schedule How Much? The amount of water to replace what was removed from the soil Evaporation Transpiration The rate the sprinklers apply the water The uniformity of the sprinklers Inches converted to Minutes Evapotranspiration (ETO)

Elements of an Irrigation Schedule How Often? Days available Hours per day Cycles to avoid runoff/puddling

Integrated Water Management Presented by Kurt K. Thompson Sponsored by the Professional Grounds Maintenance Society Creating the Schedule November, 2003 G.I.E Expo - St. Louis, MO

Example Use the Scheduling Practice Problem in the handouts Zone 2

Landscape Irrigation Auditor Training Presentation Creating the Schedule Line A Determine the amount of water (inches) to be applied for the period (week, month) Using average historic seasonal ETO for Florida Spring = 1.00 in./week Summer = 1.40 in./week Fall = 1.00 in./week Winter = 0.50 in./week Calculate using historic ETO and actual KL Water to Apply = ETO x KL KL for Cool Season Turf = 0.65 KL for Warm Season Turf = 0.75 KL for Mix Shrubs & Trees = 0.50 Example (7 x .18”/day) x 0.75 = 0.945 Water to Apply = 0.95 in./week Copyright 2012 K. Thompson & Associates, LLC All rights reserved.

Florida Historic ET Rates Season Month North Region ETP South Region ETP in/day in/month Winter Jan 0.07 2.17 0.09 2.79 Spring Feb 0.10 2.80 0.12 3.36 Mar 0.13 4.03 0.15 4.65 Summer Apr 0.17 5.10 0.19 5.70 May 5.89 0.20 6.20 Jun Jul 0.18 5.58 Aug 5.27 Fall Sep 4.50 0.16 4.80 Oct 3.72 0.14 4.34 Nov 2.70 0.11 3.30 Dec 0.06 1.86 Year 49.32 54.79

Florida Historic ET Rates N S

Landscape Irrigation Auditor Training Presentation Creating the Schedule Line B Establish the precipitation rate for the zone Calculate the zone flow and square feet of zone S2 S1 GPM in Spacing Total GPM r S GPM in adjusted spacing (0.8 x r) Copyright 2012 K. Thompson & Associates, LLC All rights reserved.

Landscape Irrigation Auditor Training Presentation Creating the Schedule Line C Establish the uniformity for the zone Uniformity Class Description Rotors Sprays Drip Poor Improper PSI Missing Sprinklers Same Nozzles 0.45 0.40 .90 Better Sprinklers in Corners OK Spacing OK Pressure 0.60 0.50 Best Consistent Spacing Proper PSI Matched Precip. Rate 0.70 0.65 Copyright 2012 K. Thompson & Associates, LLC All rights reserved.

Landscape Irrigation Auditor Training Presentation Creating the Schedule Line D Establish the Scheduling Multiplier for the zone Use the DU in Line C to determine the SM using the Scheduling Multiplier table or formula Copyright 2012 K. Thompson & Associates, LLC All rights reserved.

Scheduling Multiplier Lookup Table Uniformity Scheduling Multiplier 1.00 0.78 1.15 0.58 1.34 0.98 1.01 0.76 1.17 0.56 1.36 0.96 1.02 0.74 1.18 0.54 1.38 0.94 1.04 0.72 1.20 0.52 1.40 0.92 1.05 0.70 1.22 0.50 1.43 0.90 1.06 0.68 1.24 0.48 1.45 0.88 1.08 0.66 1.26 0.46 1.48 0.86 1.09 0.64 1.28 0.44 1.51 0.84 1.11 0.62 1.30 0.42 1.53 0.82 1.12 0.60 1.32 0.40 1.56 0.80 1.14 Fix sprinkler problems if below 0.40

Landscape Irrigation Auditor Training Presentation Creating the Schedule Line E Establish the lower boundary run time where: RTlower = lower boundary run time - LEAN Inches of water = target amount to apply PR = precipitation rate {in/hr} RTlower = x 60 Inches of Water PR Copyright 2012 K. Thompson & Associates, LLC All rights reserved.

Landscape Irrigation Auditor Training Presentation Creating the Schedule Line F Establish the upper boundary run time where: RTupper = upper boundary run time - LUSH RTlower = lower boundary run time - LEAN SM = scheduling multiplier RTupper = RTlower x SM Copyright 2012 K. Thompson & Associates, LLC All rights reserved.

Landscape Irrigation Auditor Training Presentation Creating the Schedule Line G Determining the Recommended Run Time The run time between the upper and lower boundaries based on how the plant material is expected to look Copyright 2012 K. Thompson & Associates, LLC All rights reserved.

Landscape Irrigation Auditor Training Presentation Creating the Schedule Line H Determining the number of days available to irrigate State or local regulations Manager’s choice Copyright 2012 K. Thompson & Associates, LLC All rights reserved.

Landscape Irrigation Auditor Training Presentation Creating the Schedule Line I Establish the run time per day using the number of days available Don’t forget to establish the maximum amount of time the sprinklers can run before runoff occurs Run Time per Day = Run Time per Week Days Available Copyright 2012 K. Thompson & Associates, LLC All rights reserved.

Integrated Water Management Presented by Kurt K. Thompson Sponsored by the Professional Grounds Maintenance Society Managing the Schedule November, 2003 G.I.E Expo - St. Louis, MO

High Efficiency Management Smart Irrigation Technologies Presented by Kurt K. Thompson Copyright 2010 K. Thompson & Associates 850-637-6650 kurt@kthompsonassociates.com High Efficiency Management Adjust the schedules to deliver only the water needed to keep the plants healthy Trim back runtimes until equipment weaknesses are revealed Adjust the equipment on a micro-level to correct Continue until equipment cannot be corrected FNGLA Short Course - September 23, 2010

High Efficiency Management Adjust the schedule monthly Plant Water Requirement J F M A M J J A S O N D Months of the Year Reduction in Water Use Water Applied by Schedule Neglected Managed

High Efficiency Management Trim Back Schedule & Adjust Timing Reduction in Water Use Water Applied by Schedule Plant Water Requirement J F M A M J J A S O N D Months of the Year After Before

Scheduling Realities No amount of good scheduling will compensate for a poor irrigation system

experience AND implementationSM OHBA Meeting August 9, 2012 experience AND implementationSM kurt@kthompsonassociates.com 850.637.6650 Thank you! Copyright K. Thompson & associates. All rights reserved.