Is Irrigreen Accurate? How Much Water Does Irrigreen Actually Use?
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- čas přidán 13. 09. 2023
- One of the coolest features of Irrigreen sprinklers is that you can ask for any increment of water to be applied to a lawn and it will run for as long as it takes to do that...but I wondered if all areas of the yard were actually getting the same amount of water so I tested it the best way I knew how.
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I tested 8 different locations at different lengths out on the radius within the circumference of the sprinkler arc. I told the sprinkler to apply an inch of water to the lawn and then tested each location for how much water each cup collected.
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IMO, the equipment is pricey but the installation costs are low.
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I agree with your assessment that this sprinkler uses the splashing action of the water to create it’s coverage. I would use something wide and low like a pie pan to account for some of the splashing. I think in Irrigreen’s marketing, it says they use the capillary action of water to get it to the borders of the your area. Soil moisture gauge would be helpful as well, but it would be hard to take into account variations in soil. Thank you for another excellent unbiased video. 😊
Using larger diameter shallower cups might produce more accurate measurements, or better yet use the pro plugger to remove a plugs then use cups the same size down in the plug holes so they completely flush with the surface of the soil.
There's still a strong selling point on how it does not waste water onto unnecessary areas.
Hunter Industries has a cool room where they can test any head, it's a room full of collection cups on a grid. I think that might be the best way to test.
I think you need to make sure that each stream actually hits the collection cup. I have spray heads and went through is activity based on spray duration. I gave up made a coffee and sat and watched the sprinklers water the lawn.
The difference between cups is the reason why a sprinkler should overlap with another sprinkler for at least 90% of the radius. To get an even coverage as possible.
PS: usefull video. It shows us what to expect.
Irrigreen did a study at Fresno State at the Center of Irrigation Technology. The catch cups don’t work with streams. The study showed that Irrigreen put down 40% less water than a traditional system with the same increase in soil moisture.
That was my guess yesterday or two days ago on how to measure irrigreen better, soil moisture readings. I have a moisture meter but it's probably not nearly precise enough.
How long did the sprinkler run for the app to say 1” of water was applied to the whole lawn?
I didn’t expect perfection but I expected a little bit better. I feel like you’ll have brown spots close to the head and at the end of the range, and a jungle in the middle of the range. It’ll be interesting to see results next year. Since I know you use hydretain, maybe do an experiment where you use it on half this section and not the other half, and see if you do in fact get brown spots
Yeah it'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out next year when the lawn is fully established and out of recovery mode. I'm curious if the dispursion caused by the stream hitting the grass and ground lead to more even coverage. The company clearly says to plan for thos on the furthest fringes...and you can clearly see this in action. So much water comes out at once at full flow that water splashes all over the lawn when it hits, it's possible the tuna can or coffee cup measurement method isn't best for this sprinkler. I may try again with a moisture meter at different depths next time I run the sprinkler.
@@TurfMechanicthat would be interesting to see as well.
I wonder if this test accounts for splash and spread of water once it hit's the ground. And for droplets that fall along the arch of the longer sprays. Perhaps some long basins where you could capture most or all the water that would be landing in one section will let you get an idea for how much water is saturating that section.
yep, in my replies to the other commenters I mentioned the same things. I'm brainstorming a better way to test this because I suspect the actual lawn moisture dispersion is more consistent than this test showed.
What was the total amount of water used from your water meter for this test?
Yeah, the pattern on those heads seem awful, so the cups may not give a good reading. As heavy as the streams look, I think splash/running will bring even water coverage. For that reason, they likely would not be ideal for seeding on mostly dirt. Over seed/established watering is likely fine, though.
It never dawned on me to do a physical water audit as opposed to telling the app how much you are watering. Very interesting, probably not the results Irrigreen wants us to see.
Do your neighbors think you're weird yet?
Is any system accurate?
Probably not, to many things out of man's control. 🤔
I am not at all surprised. I was not impressed with the first time I saw the spray pattern on those things looks like a terrible design from the get go.
I think the flow hitting the ground and splashing/dispursing probably makes up a lot for these issues I'm seeing in this test. If a large flow hits the ground at full force it splashes everywhere and spreads its coverage out wide but if that same large flow goes into the cup directly then it doesn't splash and spread out wide. The splash is what we want in the lawn to get more even coverage. I'm going to do a different variation of this test again hoping to take the splash into consideration. Going to brainstorm that a bit more first though.
This clearly was not a good test setup. There are 8-12 individual streams, so if you only have 8 cups then obviously some will get hit more directly than others. Lawns aren't cups. The water is going to spread when it hits the turf and it will spread even more as it penetrates the ground. I'm not sure what the answer is for a good test. Maybe a long trough with end to end sponges!