Statistics indicate that up to 80% of peak water use can be contributed to outdoor irrigation. Up to 50% of this water is wasted. This means that you are likely paying too much for your water bill and aren't conserving water as well as you should.

Here are five ways that we help clients save money on the their water bill and conserve water when we fine tune their sprinkler system.

Install pressure regulating (pressure reducing) heads to eliminate “fogging” of the water:
Converting to these type heads can easily reduce water waste by up to 30%. When a head receives too much water pressure it “mists” out fine droplets that are not heavy enough to fall to the ground immediately. The fine droplets quickly evaporate never reaching the ground. Up to 30% of the water coming out of an over pressurized head can be “fogged” and wasted.

Install SMART controller and weather sensing technology:
This type controller will automatically develop a daily program, run only as needed, and knows your specific site water needs and up-to-the minute on site weather conditions. Even our most particular, environmentally conscious, pro water conserving customers do not change their irrigation system settings on a daily basis. This is HOUSTON TEXAS. A lot can happen weather wise in a day. Daily scheduling and re-scheduling of your system with 30 years of historical weather information in the software PLUS your own on-site mini weather station that measures temperature and rainfall on your site, not the Airport.

Consider installing a basic rain sensor or wireless rain sensor:
At least keep your system from running in the rain. Also it may keep your system off for number of days, depending on amount of rain and other weather conditions.

Re-zone areas- Bed areas and Grass areas should be on separate circuits (hydrozoning):
Your grass has different water needs than your flowers and shrubbery. These areas combined on a sprinkler system result in water waste. When the grass needs water the plants may not. When the shrubs are thirsty, the grass may be fine. Your plants may not be able to take the amount of water your St. Augustine grass can. You will undoubtedly over water one area to get enough to the other.

Re-zone areas- Shade areas should be separate of Sunny areas (microclimatology):
The area that is coolly shaded under the tree all day needs much less water that the one that bakes in the sun all day. Another common example is the shaded narrow area between the side of the house and the fence. It doesn’t need to run for the same time the hot sunny middle area does. A shaded area should be on a separate zone than the full sun area allowing those areas to be separately controlled by the number of minutes it is to run.

These are just a few areas that JB Irrigation covers when performing a S.W.E.E.P. (system watering efficiently and economically program) assessment for our clients sprinkler systems. If you are in need of sprinkler repair in Houston Texas, are tired of high water bills, or just want to learn about new ways to conserve water, please contact our office and make an appointment today.