Sprinkler Irrigation 123 Tutorial - Choose Your Components - Water Source Connections
| Choose Your Components Cont'd... Water Source Connections This is where we will explain how to hook the system up to the water supply. You have TWO choices for connecting your system to your household water supply. You can now decide how you want to install the system: 1) plumbing it into your water line, or 2) using the hose bib as your connection point. Many Irrigation Contractors will likely insist that it’s not viable to install an inground installation from your hose bib, but this isn’t so, and it will likely make more sense for small to medium lawn installations. Installing from a hose bib can be done by either using a multi-port timer, or by connecting the bib to an actual solenoid manifold which would be very similar to actually plumbing the system into your water supply. For simplicity sake, we will design our system with a solenoid valve assembly connected to a household hose bib. Here is a brief summary of the advantages and disadvantages of using Hose End Timers vs. Solenoid Valve Assemblies:
1. Plumbing the system directly into your water supply. This is the most common method to hook up sprinkler systems but does require knowledge regarding municipal regulation and does require some plumbing expertise. The diagram below may give you some guidance if you want to tackle this on your own.
2. Using Your Hose Bib (Faucet). This is the simplest way to hook up your system but it is only recommend if your zone flow rate (which we calculated in the first steps) is lower than 180 gph for each zone. You can stretch it out beyond that flow, but we just like to plan on the safe side of water flow when using this method due to the flow limitation for most hose end timers. You have two choices when using your hose bib as your connection point. A) Using Solenoid Assembly (Preferred). Employing this method is beneficial and necessary if you have more than 4 zones, and you want to use accessories such as rain sensors and have the capability of WIFI and or Bluetooth Control via your Irrigation Controller.
B) Using a Hose End Timer – When using a Hose End Timer, it will take the place of all the solenoids in your system. We recommend using this method for smaller residential systems with flow rates of 180 gph or less, but as we mentioned previously you can stretch the limits and you’ll likely be fine. One major benefit to note is that there is no section of the system under constant pressure so you are able to use a lower PSI tubing such as our DD-DH940 Tubing which is available in 100 and 500 ft rolls and is cheaper than the heavier duty 100PSI tubing that is mandatory with solenoids.
Your system is pretty much planned at this point! You’ll just need a few additional components that will make your life easier on your installation.
Controller: If you are going to use a solenoid assembly for your system, you will need an Irrigation Controller. You have plenty of options when it comes to a controller for your system. Our recommendation is to purchase an indoor/outdoor controller to give you options regarding where you place the controller. Also purchase a controller with 1 or 2 additional zones to provide you with the option to expand at a later date. For standard performance and convenience, we recommend the Hydro-Rain HRC-400 controllers which has features such as WIFI and Bluetooth built-in. For a more sophisticated software and user interface we recommend the Rachio PRO Series Controllers. Also ideal for contractors who have multiple properties; you can monitor every single solenoid on the system and get notified if there are any electronic issues. Beyond the mechanical benefits, the app's experience and unbeatable warranty make this an easy choice.
Irrigation Wire: You will also need wire to go from your controller to the solenoid assembly. Each solenoid will require one conductor and there is a neutral wire for as well which are spliced together. You will need to order wire with one additional conductor than the number of solenoids you are using. For example, if you have 4 solenoids in your system, you need to order 5 conductor wire (18 5 100 Wiring). Also, don’t forget to order watertight silicone nuts (WPWN-S), you will need one for each valve and an additional one (medium size WPWN-M) to splice together the common wire, so in this case you would need 4 small and 1 medium sized nut. For more information on wiring, we recommend visiting our brief wiring tutorial: Wiring Tutorial
Valve Box: If you plan on burying your solenoid assembly, you will need a valve box to protect them. If you have 3 or less solenoids, the NDS 115 TBC will cover, and if you have 4-5 solenoids the NDS 119 TBC would be needed. Also, you may need a smaller round box to cover drip zone assembly if needed.
Tools: You will need a good Cutting Tool, Teflon Tape (TEFL-STD), and a few commonly found tools in most toolboxes. For all of our tools, please visit our tools category.
Ok, Let’s put some systems together with what we’ve learned. Click to the next page for sample orders.
Ref 2075
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