IRRIGATION
homeowners who might not keep such close tabs on water usage. “Audits help homeowners, especially those who don’t maintain their own property and might not know what kind of system their home has,” Sutton-Jensen says. “An audit would tell them if they have mismatched sprinklers with mismatched valves, broken nozzles, leaks, broken pipes or broken meters.” Tere are also times when homeowners seek out audits due to a surge in water usage or a suspicion of an issue within the irrigation system. In those cases, audits can be extremely helpful in identifying exactly where the problem lies.
“I had a customer with a leak and they were blaming
the irrigation system,” Alvarez says. “I checked every square inch of the system and told the customer how much water output was being used by the irrigation system, and that
helped determine the cause of the problem. It had noth- ing to do with the landscape contractor. It was actually a plumbing issue.” Maldonado says every client is different and every job
is different, so the way to approach clients with the sugges- tion of an audit or inspection will be different as well. “Te first step is to find out if they have any questions or concerns and to find out what expectations they have,” Mal- donado says. “Ten I walk them through the whole process. Sometimes they know something is wrong with the system, but they don’t know exactly what is wrong. When you do the inspection, you have to explain everything.”
A visual inspection
Despite its simplicity, a visual inspection of an irrigation system is a quick way to gain an understanding of the sys- tem’s overall efficiency and effectiveness, Sutton-Jensen says. Just by watching a sys- tem run, you can make many observations. Are any of the sprinklers spraying over the edge of the sidewalk? For rotating heads, where do they start and where do they stop? “It doesn’t take an expert to see a sprinkler is crooked or that one is stuck up after it is done running, or to no- tice that one is really deep in the ground or broken,” she says. “You can even tell by the condition of the plants that you might have an is- sue. If you look at the con- dition of the turf grass and see a giant yellow spot in the middle, you have an issue.” Trough a visual inspec-
tion, a certified landscape irrigation auditor and oth- er irrigation professionals would also notice dry spots or spots that are overly satu- rated, Maldonado says.
A complete system review
Te most involved irrigation audit would begin with a re- view of the property and the system, followed by a system tuneup. “A system tuneup would
Each customer needs a different level of audit, from a general visual inspection all the way up to the catch can test. Make sure to use the appropriate option.
22 Irrigation & Lighting November 2023
make sure the system is aligned, make sure heads aren’t overspraying onto the sidewalks, little tune- ups like that that we know a lot of homeowners don’t
irrigationandlighting.org
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