Going through an Irrigation Audit will improve your property and save you money!

Irrigation audits can consist of many things. It could range from an on site inspection, determining flow rates, calculating precipitation rates, looking at irrigation efficiency, and gaining permission to look at municipal water bills. There are many other factors that go into auditing an irrigation system. If you are unsure about the quality and overall performance of your sprinkler system an irrigation audit is what you may need.

Generally if a customer inquires about this service, we like to spend time on the phone briefly explaining what this process involves. Also reading this article will give you a pretty good idea. This process is not considered an estimate for revamping an irrigation system, so there will be service charges rendered.

Usually the first step is to identify obvious problems. If the sprinkler system needs repair, it will need to be fixed to perform the audit. A service bill is kept along with an irrigation work sheet while on property. While on site we are looking for:

• The condition of the irrigation system by activating each zone valve to identify if zone is operational
• Volume supplied to that individual zone
• Sprinkler types and how many on each individual zone.
• Tip sizing ( is there uniform coverage )
• Matched precipitation rates ( is there distribution uniformity )
• What plant material is located within that particular zone
• Are zones matched ( rotors, sprays, drip irrigation )
• Identifying slopes and microclimates
• Irrigation controller will be looked at for it’s programming efficiency (very important ).
• Current programming of the irrigation time clock at point of arrival.

Once all this information is gathered it will be recorded. From here we will have a better understanding of the Irrigation system and the landscape in which it provides water to. Recommendations will then be made for repairs and maintenance to the system. The work on the spread sheet will need to be performed. Once under way with the upgrades, we can look to determine the theoretical irrigation requirement of the landscape. With a proper audit and planning, customers will be assured of a well constructed Irrigation system that provides years of beauty and increased property value to their home.