# Whoa, how much water can my irrigation system use???



## J187 (May 19, 2006)

Ok, I havne't had a chance to investigate my meter yet, but I just opened my waterbill at work. Its really the first water bill I've received since buying the house in April except for one bill for $40 while we were working on the house, not living there. The bill is $400, $240 of which is for my irrigation system. The irrigation is on a sep meter, so no sewer tax, but the use of 44 units - ea unit being 738 gallons, means I used 33,000 gallons in 3 months?? Is that possible?

I have 25 sprinkler heads over 24K sq ft of land. I don't think I used the system more than like 15 times only running it for around 1 hour total for all heads.


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## majakdragon (Sep 16, 2006)

I would be checking the meter VERY fast. It could be a leak or a valve that is not shutting off completely when the system is supposed to be off.


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## troubleseeker (Sep 25, 2006)

That does sound pretty high. Even if all 25 heads are turf rotors or impact heads flowing at 4 gpm, that is 100 gpm total times 60 min, for a flow of 6000 gph times 15 hours equals 9000 gallons. If you are pretty sure that you are not underestimating the run time, I'd be looking for a leak. Since most irrigation piping is buried relatively shallow, a very soggy area should be easy to find.


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## J187 (May 19, 2006)

Thanks guys, I do believe I found the culprit. I have a hose bib around the side of my house no one ever goes to. A couple months ago, a buddy was helping me pour concrete for a lamp post. I beleive he left the bib on because I found the hose with the head exploded off of it. Now, I remember finding the bib on and turning it off, but didn't see the hose whereas the hose is around the side of the house from the bib. Now, putting two and two together, I am guessing the hose head blew off and ran for several days until I found the bib on. It rained for the majority of that month here, I never would have notice. Grrrr. Thanks. At least I can feel comfortable about using the sprinkler.


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## lambkin1 (Oct 6, 2008)

It is very likely that your sprinkler did use that much water. Check your meter while your system is off to make sure there are no leaks.


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## lambkin1 (Oct 6, 2008)

Yes your sprinkler system probably did use that much water.


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## Marvin Gardens (Sep 30, 2008)

Been there done that. Had a water pipe break on my property and used 100,000 gallons. I found the leak and called the city. They forgave the bill which was a nice touch.

I have a meter on my irrigation system so that I can see if there is a leak.

I also have a whole house solenoid shutoff so that if there is no one home the computer shuts off the water, unless the sprinkler needs some water then the computer turns on the water till the irrigation is done.

The setup is the same at my vacation home. I don't want the pump running for months if I am not there. When it is time to irrigate the computer turns the pump on and then opens the water solenoid and it irrigates and then everything shuts down.

On my hose bibs I have have the same setup so that no water will go out unless the valves have been opened. The computer shuts down the water after 30 minutes and if there is need for more water then they have to be opened again.

Since I do all the programming I can adjust all the parameters to my life as needed but for years it has been running without me changing anything.

It keeps my water bill predictable and there are no surprises.


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## mhgcsuper (Oct 28, 2008)

just look on your meter and see how many gallons you use in a 10 minute period. If you used 120 gallons in 10 minutes you would use 720 gals per hour. (120 x 6 = 720) If it takes 3 hours to water then you used 2160 gallons 720 x 3 = 2160. 2160 x 6 waterings per month would = 12,960 gals per month. Each of your zones may vary a little as far as use is concerned but it will not vary that much. Systems are designed to put out the same amount of water that is coming in. Hence the need for "zones" in an irrigation system.


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## J187 (May 19, 2006)

Wow, talk about reviving a dead thread. This was baby had its two year birthday this month. Anyway, you reminded me that I forgot to reply to this back then. Turns out it was a mistaken estimation which had been based on the previous month when the homeowner had a valve break and the water had leaked for like a day and a half.


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## dae06 (Oct 30, 2008)

Here's my situation. I have 9 zones with a total of ~40 heads. 35 are rotors and 5 are spray heads. I have my system set to water for 4.5 hours 3 days a week. If they were to water each time it is set to go (36 times in 3 months) how many gallons would you guess I would use in those 3 months?


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## Marvin Gardens (Sep 30, 2008)

dae06 said:


> Here's my situation. I have 9 zones with a total of ~40 heads. 35 are rotors and 5 are spray heads. I have my system set to water for 4.5 hours 3 days a week. If they were to water each time it is set to go (36 times in 3 months) how many gallons would you guess I would use in those 3 months?


You would have to know how many gpm each head uses. Look at the literature for your system and it will tell you that information.


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## dae06 (Oct 30, 2008)

Well, don't knoiw that, but here is another question.

How many gallons would it take to cover a 5000 square foot area with a half an inch (1/2") of water?

I try to water a 1/2 inch per zone, twice a week.


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## jerryh3 (Dec 10, 2007)

dae06 said:


> Well, don't knoiw that, but here is another question.
> 
> How many gallons would it take to cover a 5000 square foot area with a half an inch (1/2") of water?
> 
> I try to water a 1/2 inch per zone, twice a week.


I think it's 7.8 gal/cuft, so around 1600 gallons per watering.


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## dae06 (Oct 30, 2008)

That would be awesome if I could get by that cheap, but let me figure out a formula.:thumbsup:, I thinks it's much more that that.


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## jerryh3 (Dec 10, 2007)

dae06 said:


> That would be awesome if I could get by that cheap, but let me figure out a formula.:thumbsup:, I thinks it's much more that that.


Which formula? 5000*(1/24)*7.5(correct number, I think)=1562.


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## dae06 (Oct 30, 2008)

Here's a formula: *Gallons in Aquarium:* 


*To determine the number of gallons in a rectangular aquarium:* 

Length (in inches) x Width (in inches) x Height (in inches) / 231
______________________________________________________________________
5000 square feet= 70.7 feet X 70.7 feet 

so (70.7 X 12") Length X (70.7 X 12") Width X .5" Height / 231

848.4" X 848.4" X .5 / 231= 1557.97 gallons to cover 5000 square feet with 1/2" of water.

Does this look correct to everyone?

It takes 1558 gallons of water to cover a 5000 square foot area with a 1/2" of water. No wonder my water bill is so high. I'm watering 44,000 square feet. That's 27,400 gallons a week.

Please, let me know if this is correct. That's a lot of water, especially at $3.00/1000 gallons


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## dae06 (Oct 30, 2008)

Yep now we are on the same page. 40 gallons was way too low.


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## dae06 (Oct 30, 2008)

What are water prices for the other readers around the country?


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## jerryh3 (Dec 10, 2007)

dae06 said:


> Yep now we are on the same page. 40 gallons was way too low.


I was typing faster than I was thinking.


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## dae06 (Oct 30, 2008)

jerryh3 said:


> I was typing faster than I was thinking.


Then you're one step ahead of me. I type much slower than I am thinking. :thumbup:


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