Irrigation waste isn’t always obvious. Your lawn can look green and healthy while your irrigation system uses far more water than necessary.
The EPA estimates that up to 50% of outdoor water can be wasted through overwatering and inefficient irrigation methods. They also note that a single household with an automatic irrigation system that isn’t properly maintained and operated can waste up to 25,000 gallons of water annually. By having your system audited and any performance issues remediated, you could save up to $330 in water costs over a six-month irrigation season.
At The Parke Company, we’re actively bringing this issue to homeowners’ attention, particularly on larger properties and estates throughout Nashville, Belle Meade, Forest Hills, Oak Hill, Green Hills, Franklin, College Grove, and Brentwood. The more ground an irrigation system has to cover, the more inefficiencies (big and small) that can add up. Identifying problems with pressure, coverage, sprinkler heads, or other components can help you reduce unnecessary water use, potentially lower your water bill, and improve how effectively your landscaping is irrigated.
By partnering with our specialists, homeowners can quickly establish where their irrigation systems may be failing and have these issues corrected.
What Are the Signs Your Irrigation System Is Wasting Water?
Certain signs your irrigation system is wasting water are obvious, while others require a professional assessment.
Sprinkler efficiencies that homeowners throughout Middle Tennessee can assess visually include:
- Uneven coverage: Areas that remain dry while others are consistently wet or soggy can indicate poor distribution rather than insufficient overall watering.
- Overspray: Water regularly hitting driveways, sidewalks, patios, streets, fences, or structures indicates that part of the system’s output isn’t reaching the intended landscape.
- Misting: Sprinklers producing a fine mist rather than defined droplets can indicate excessive water pressure.
- Runoff and pooling: Water running off the landscape before the irrigation cycle is complete can indicate that water is being applied faster than the soil can absorb it or that coverage/pressure needs correction.
- Malfunctioning heads: Tilted, clogged, damaged, sunken, leaking, or failing heads can alter coverage and waste water.
- Unexpected wet spots: Persistent wet areas can point to leaking underground lines, valves, fittings, or sprinkler connections.
- Inconsistent plant performance: Some plants struggling while nearby areas remain overly wet may indicate a distribution problem rather than a need to supply the entire property with more water.
How Can an Irrigation Audit Uncover Problems You Can’t See?
An irrigation audit goes beyond identifying the problems you can spot by walking around your property. A professional can evaluate how evenly water is distributed across individual zones and investigate technical issues that aren’t always apparent when you watch the sprinklers run.
Water pressure is one of them. According to EPA technical guidance, irrigation system pressure should be within ±10% of the manufacturer’s recommended operating pressure. Excessive pressure can contribute to misting and overspray, while insufficient pressure can prevent sprinkler heads from achieving proper coverage. In either case, the sprinklers may still appear to be functioning.
An audit can also identify damaged, clogged, tilted, buried, or incorrectly positioned sprinkler heads; mismatched nozzles; leaking valves and fittings; and underground line problems.
It can determine whether individual components and zones are still appropriate for the areas they’re intended to irrigate, and from there, our technicians can speak with you about how to correct these issues.
Why Can an Irrigation System Become Less Efficient Over Time?
A system properly calibrated at installation may no longer match the property years later. Trees mature, changing sun and shade patterns across the landscape. Shrubs and other vegetation can grow into sprinkler spray patterns, preventing water from fully reaching the intended area. Roots, shifting soil, and normal settling can also affect the position of sprinkler heads, while landscape renovations can change the boundaries between lawns, planting beds, and hardscapes.
The irrigation system itself can also change over time. Sprinkler heads and nozzles wear out, become clogged or damaged, and are sometimes replaced with components that don’t deliver water at the same rate as the originals. This can create uneven coverage within a single irrigation zone.
If one section of a lawn isn’t receiving enough water, it can be tempting to simply run that zone longer. But if the problem is a blocked sprinkler head, mismatched nozzle, or poor pressure, increasing the runtime may only overwater the rest of the zone while leaving the underlying problem unresolved.
This is a key reason why mature landscapes benefit from periodic irrigation audits and recalibration. An established Nashville irrigation system should be evaluated based on the property as it is today instead of assuming the system is as efficient now as it was when it was first installed.
Which Irrigation System Has the Highest Water Use Efficiency?
No single irrigation system is most efficient for every part of every property. Drip or microirrigation can be highly efficient in suitable planting beds by delivering water directly to the root zone and reducing overspray losses. Properly designed sprinkler irrigation may be more appropriate for uniform turf areas.
On larger properties with lawns, trees, shrubs, gardens, slopes, and planting beds, the most effective water-saving irrigation system may combine different irrigation methods to meet each area’s needs.
How Can You Make Your Irrigation System More Efficient?
Once an audit identifies where water is being lost or poorly distributed, repairs and targeted upgrades will improve performance.
Depending on the system and landscape, that could include repairing or repositioning sprinkler heads, replacing mismatched nozzles, correcting leaks, addressing pressure problems, or introducing drip or microirrigation where appropriate. Pressure-regulating sprinkler bodies can help maintain suitable operating pressure, while matched-precipitation nozzles can help provide more uniform application within a zone.
Smart controllers and sensors can also improve efficiency by responding to weather or soil-moisture conditions. But smart technology can’t identify a leaking line, broken head, or poor distribution. Creating a proper water-conserving irrigation system starts with making sure the underlying system is working as it should.
For Nashville-area homeowners, especially those maintaining larger or mature properties, small irrigation problems can be multiplied across numerous zones and sprinkler heads. It’s important to catch these problems quickly.
Work with local professionals who understand Middle Tennessee’s soil, climate, landscape conditions, and EPA irrigation guidelines. Contact The Parke Company to schedule an irrigation audit and make sure your system is delivering the water your landscape needs without wasting what it doesn’t.