Hello everyone,
I have planned the garden irrigation system for our outdoor area and would like to ask for your feedback:
1. A 6,600-liter (1,743-gallon) cistern that will be used for irrigation.
2. The cistern is currently filled with rainwater. In the first expansion phase, it will also be filled with fresh water from the outdoor faucet, and next year a well will be drilled to fill the cistern. Of course, the cistern should only be refilled when it is empty and only with as much water as the irrigation requires. The rainwater should not be wasted.
3. For the pump, the Divertron 1200 will be used (4.8 bar (70 psi) and 5,700 liters per hour (1,505 gallons per hour)).
4. Unlike the initial plan, I want to use the Rain Bird R-VAN rotary sprinklers. The minimum radius is 2.4 meters (8 feet), whereas with Hunter I would have to use the MP800-H model, since the MP1000 starts at 2.8 meters (9 feet). I don’t need the extra reach of the Hunter, and the Rain Bird have lower flow rates, so I can save water. In any case, the sprinklers will be installed with MPR nozzles and pressure regulation.
5. Controller: Hunter Pro-HC or Rain Bird ESP-TM2 with Wi-Fi module.
6. Rain sensor and soil moisture sensor.
7. Outdoor water outlet is planned at the garden corner (not shown in the plan).
8. A drainage valve would be useful.
Questions:
i. Can I connect the Gardena rain sensor to the Hunter or Rain Bird controller?
ii. Where is the best place to install the drainage valve?
iii. I read that rotors should not be connected in series. Why is that?
iv. I am planning to dig a deep trench of 80 cm (31 inches) for the main line with 32 mm (1.25 inches) piping and connect the individual sprinklers from there. Good idea or not? The pump should provide enough pressure.
v. Should the pressure regulator for drip irrigation be installed directly at the manifold or only where necessary?
vi. In general, what do you think about the position of the sprinklers? A larger play structure with a sandbox will be added at the lower left.
vii. At the narrow section at the top, I planned strip sprinklers or would rotors be better?
viii. I divided the left area into 3 rectangles and aligned the sprinklers accordingly. Maybe it makes more sense to position 5 sprinklers on the left instead. That would be more than the triangle arrangement.
ix. Some sprinklers do not receive overlapping coverage. I can’t assess how critical this is. Ideally, there should be double coverage.
I have planned the garden irrigation system for our outdoor area and would like to ask for your feedback:
1. A 6,600-liter (1,743-gallon) cistern that will be used for irrigation.
2. The cistern is currently filled with rainwater. In the first expansion phase, it will also be filled with fresh water from the outdoor faucet, and next year a well will be drilled to fill the cistern. Of course, the cistern should only be refilled when it is empty and only with as much water as the irrigation requires. The rainwater should not be wasted.
3. For the pump, the Divertron 1200 will be used (4.8 bar (70 psi) and 5,700 liters per hour (1,505 gallons per hour)).
4. Unlike the initial plan, I want to use the Rain Bird R-VAN rotary sprinklers. The minimum radius is 2.4 meters (8 feet), whereas with Hunter I would have to use the MP800-H model, since the MP1000 starts at 2.8 meters (9 feet). I don’t need the extra reach of the Hunter, and the Rain Bird have lower flow rates, so I can save water. In any case, the sprinklers will be installed with MPR nozzles and pressure regulation.
5. Controller: Hunter Pro-HC or Rain Bird ESP-TM2 with Wi-Fi module.
6. Rain sensor and soil moisture sensor.
7. Outdoor water outlet is planned at the garden corner (not shown in the plan).
8. A drainage valve would be useful.
Questions:
i. Can I connect the Gardena rain sensor to the Hunter or Rain Bird controller?
ii. Where is the best place to install the drainage valve?
iii. I read that rotors should not be connected in series. Why is that?
iv. I am planning to dig a deep trench of 80 cm (31 inches) for the main line with 32 mm (1.25 inches) piping and connect the individual sprinklers from there. Good idea or not? The pump should provide enough pressure.
v. Should the pressure regulator for drip irrigation be installed directly at the manifold or only where necessary?
vi. In general, what do you think about the position of the sprinklers? A larger play structure with a sandbox will be added at the lower left.
vii. At the narrow section at the top, I planned strip sprinklers or would rotors be better?
viii. I divided the left area into 3 rectangles and aligned the sprinklers accordingly. Maybe it makes more sense to position 5 sprinklers on the left instead. That would be more than the triangle arrangement.
ix. Some sprinklers do not receive overlapping coverage. I can’t assess how critical this is. Ideally, there should be double coverage.
I need to check whether I need the X1 for this or if I can also manage it with another home server. If necessary, I'll use the 100€ control from Rechtsanwältin Bird until I set it up via KNX.
OK, understood. I will then also create one circuit per bed. I will update my plan accordingly...
Which pump do you have to achieve 12 bar? Is your main pipe 32mm (1.25 inches), or even thicker?
OK, understood. I will then also create one circuit per bed. I will update my plan accordingly...
Which pump do you have to achieve 12 bar? Is your main pipe 32mm (1.25 inches), or even thicker?
You can implement the logic with any logic server. The important thing is to program it so you can make changes quickly.
For Gira (Homeserver/Facility Server), there are some ready-made modules available. I’m not sure about the X1.
There are two advantages to controlling via KNX. The most important one you cannot use.
Simple irrigation controls correctly run the irrigation zones sequentially. If you have enough flow rate (which is rarely the case) and many zones, you can run zones simultaneously via KNX or systems like OpenSprinkler. This saves time and pump runtime. With your few zones, this doesn’t really matter.
Additionally, you can directly access the weather station and easily link other actions or logic.
My new system (currently under development) is in a different league. I have a 76m3 (2,680 ft3) cistern and an additional source, with a total of 20 zones.
My pump probably wouldn’t even fit into your cistern… The main line is DN63, the sub-distribution DN40, and the zones DN32. The pump is from Wilo. The pressure is already reduced to 12 bar (174 psi). The pump delivers 40 bar (580 psi) and over 20 m3/h (8,800 gallons per hour).
If I were you, I would install DN32 pipes right away. This gives you more flow. The price difference is less than 20€ (about $22) per 100 m (330 ft), and the fittings are a bit more expensive.
If you already have your pump, use it. You can always replace it later…
For Gira (Homeserver/Facility Server), there are some ready-made modules available. I’m not sure about the X1.
There are two advantages to controlling via KNX. The most important one you cannot use.
Simple irrigation controls correctly run the irrigation zones sequentially. If you have enough flow rate (which is rarely the case) and many zones, you can run zones simultaneously via KNX or systems like OpenSprinkler. This saves time and pump runtime. With your few zones, this doesn’t really matter.
Additionally, you can directly access the weather station and easily link other actions or logic.
My new system (currently under development) is in a different league. I have a 76m3 (2,680 ft3) cistern and an additional source, with a total of 20 zones.
My pump probably wouldn’t even fit into your cistern… The main line is DN63, the sub-distribution DN40, and the zones DN32. The pump is from Wilo. The pressure is already reduced to 12 bar (174 psi). The pump delivers 40 bar (580 psi) and over 20 m3/h (8,800 gallons per hour).
If I were you, I would install DN32 pipes right away. This gives you more flow. The price difference is less than 20€ (about $22) per 100 m (330 ft), and the fittings are a bit more expensive.
If you already have your pump, use it. You can always replace it later…
That’s no longer really a private project, right? I just checked the price of a cistern...
It will be difficult with a better pump. The 8 bar you recommended isn’t that easy to find. I’ve now found a pump, but it costs €900 without the float switch, etc. DAB Pulsar Dry 65/50 M-NA. 8.2 bar and 4.8 m³/h (17.0 ft³/h). I could also take the 40/50, but that pump is only €100 cheaper. My favorite now would be the T.I.P. EJ6 Plus + BRIO. A bit more expensive than planned, but with 5.7 bar and 6.3 m³/h (22.2 ft³/h).
The pump will have a fine filter on the intake, so can I skip a filter before the manifold? It’s recommended by one shop, but I don’t see the benefit.
It’s slowly coming together... I’m also planning with DN32 (nominal diameter 32 mm (1.26 inches)), because pressure loss is about one-third of that with DN25 and the costs are manageable.
Since I haven’t bought anything yet, I have no major restrictions. I’ll start by updating the plan with the play tower and the pipes.
Thanks again for the help!
It will be difficult with a better pump. The 8 bar you recommended isn’t that easy to find. I’ve now found a pump, but it costs €900 without the float switch, etc. DAB Pulsar Dry 65/50 M-NA. 8.2 bar and 4.8 m³/h (17.0 ft³/h). I could also take the 40/50, but that pump is only €100 cheaper. My favorite now would be the T.I.P. EJ6 Plus + BRIO. A bit more expensive than planned, but with 5.7 bar and 6.3 m³/h (22.2 ft³/h).
The pump will have a fine filter on the intake, so can I skip a filter before the manifold? It’s recommended by one shop, but I don’t see the benefit.
It’s slowly coming together... I’m also planning with DN32 (nominal diameter 32 mm (1.26 inches)), because pressure loss is about one-third of that with DN25 and the costs are manageable.
Since I haven’t bought anything yet, I have no major restrictions. I’ll start by updating the plan with the play tower and the pipes.
Thanks again for the help!
rick2018 schrieb:
The main pipeline is DN63, the sub-distribution DN40, and the circuits DN32. The pump is from Wilo. The pressure is already reduced to 12 bar (174 psi). The pump delivers 40 bar (580 psi) and over 20 m³/h (88.6 US gallons per hour). Did I miss something? I’m not aware of any area you are irrigating there.