Simple DIY Sprinkler Systems That Work

As the Canadian Spring and Summer months approach each year the most common enquiry we receive are from home owners wanting to install a Sprinkler Irrigation System for their home or cottage.  With contractors charging through the roof instllation fees and offering systems that are often times too complex to understand, home owners are turning to DIY installations but don't know where to start. 

We have good news! IT'S NOT THAT HARD TO DO!

This tutorial is intended for home owners who want a system that works, is inexpensive, and relatively simple to install.  Don't kid yourself, you're going to have to do some leg work but in general it will be less painful than you think.  We will look at systems for small to medium sized yards and assume the hook up will be from a standard outdoor faucet (yes you can install from a faucet).  

Notes Before You Begin:  We have based this tutorial on assumptions which are common to many sprinkler designs we have completed in the past to provide a simple approach to a successful design and installation. 

1. MP Rotators - We recommend all home owners with small and medium sized lawns to design systems using MP Rotators from Hunter.  These nozzle/spray body combinations provide the most efficient watering system available for lawn applications and are also make designing your sprinkler system a simple process.  For more information and videos on MP Rotators please visit the Hunter Industries Site Click Here.
2. We will assum a flow rate of 180 gph which is the flow rate of a typical household faucet.  You may have a higher flow rate than this available but this will have no impact on the design process.

The 3 Step Process To Sprinkler Design

1. Plan Your Layout
2. Calculate Your Zones
3. Choose Your Components

We will now look at each individual step in detail using a sample installation.  

Plan Your Layout

It may seem like your jumping ahead of things to immediately plan your sprinkler layout but when using MP Rotators we usually start with the sprinkler head layout and work backwards to the water source.  The first step of planning your layout is to start with a decent scaled drawing of your yard.  We will start our example using our sample yard below.  Although the layout is simple the same principles will apply for any yard layout.

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