Sprinkler Customer Name Appointment with Kelly Doyle

from Fort Collins Utilities

Address
Audit Fort Collins, CO 80525
on June 27th, 2017
Email SprinklerAudits@fcgov.com
Report Phone 970-416-2666

Thank you for taking time to meet with us!

During the appointment we:

 Reviewed your controller’s functions and how they relate to water efficiency.
 Talked about the importance of walking your system.
 Programmed the controller to be more efficient.
Overall, your landscape and system looked great! By making a few adjustments to several heads you
can save some water and maintain the health of your turf. Unfortunately, we could not narrow down
one zone to convert to drip since all zones were a mix of turf and garden.

Your Next Steps:

1. Focus on the major repairs pointed out during the audit and in this report.
2. Then focus on the minor adjustments discussed during the audit and in this report.
3. Monitor the health of your landscape and adjust the watering schedule if needed.
4. Walk your system regularly to find leaks and other repairs.
5. Changing your landscape is a great way to save water while adding value to your home.
Consider removing a turf zone.

$35.00 Y gallonsgallons: 5200

per month 6000
$30.00 =~$Z per bill
5000
$25.00
How much water is “normal”?
4000
$20.00 Xgallons:
gallons 3200
per month This graphs shows how much water similar
3000 Fort Collins residents who also have 3 people
$15.00 =~$W per bill
2000 and 2,000 sq. ft. of irrigated landscape, typi-
$10.00
cally use.
$5.00 1000
$25.66 $30.98
$- 0
Winter Summer
WINTER SUMMER
Sprinkler
Controller Brand: Toro
System Available Programs: 3
Information Available Zones: 6

Recommended Watering Days and Schedule Why two start times?

 Don’t water between 10:00am and 6:00pm. Two cycles with a soak
break gives water time to
 Always keep a 30-60 minute break between cycles to
absorb into the soil. The
avoid running two programs at the same time, which
already moist soil will al-
greatly impairs system performance.
low the second cycle of
water to travel even
Max Watering Days deeper to the roots and
Program Cycle Start Times support a healthier lawn.
Per Week
This “cycle-soak” method
Program A 3 4:30AM and 5:30AM also helps avoid run-off,
which is when water
Program B - - leaves your property and
Notes: We programmed all the zones on Program A for now. You have the op- takes fertilizers, oils and
tion to move any of these zones onto a separate program if you would end up other pollutants into our
converting a zone to drip in the future. waterways.

Recommended
Zone Zone
Location Minutes Plant Type Exposure
(station) Type
per Cycle
1 Parkway Right (facing home) Spray 7 Turf Partial Sun
2 Side Yard of Home Spray 5 Turf Partial Sun
Front lawn Left (facing home)
3 Spray 9 Turf Partial Sun
and Walkway
4 Backyard near trampoline Spray 7 Turf Partial Sun
5 Backyard Side Rotor 9 Turf Partial Sun
6 Second backyard Side Rotor 9 Turf Partial Sun
 Every lawn and sprinkler system is different.
Here are a few factors that inform the recommended schedule.

Head Type Sun Exposure Distribution Uniformity

Spray heads emit more water
than rotor heads. To provide the
same amount of water, a rotor
zone needs to run longer than a
spray zone.
Plants need the sun to grow, but sun
exposure also increases the water
lost to evaporation. Zones with more
sun need more water to replenish
the plant.
Without good head-to-head water
coverage, the delivery of water is not
uniform to all areas. Without adjust-
ments to the design or run times,
your lawn may look patchy.

Efficient watering is important,

but what else affects your landscape?
Slope Soil Root Depth

Water obeys gravity. Watering Clay soil is common and can’t Most grass roots are only 3-6” deep.
on steep slopes needs to be absorb water quickly. Consider The deeper the root system, the better
shorter to reduce run-off, ero- annual aeration to break up the soil your grass can survive during dry
sion, and pollution. compaction. conditions.

Fertilizers Disease and Pests Weeds

Excess fertilizer will run off your
lawn and affects the river health.
Please use with care; only use a
slow-release type if you need to
fertilize.
Overwatering will encourage pests
and disease (e.g. root rot, fungus).
Let the soil (not just the surface!)
dry before watering again.
Healthy turf is the best defense against
weeds. In non-turf areas use 3” of
mulch to fight weeds. Fix leaks -
watering bare ground will encourage
weeds to grow.

Learn more about water-wise lawn care here: fcgov.com/water-wise-lawncare

 How else can we help?

Monitor My Use
This is a FREE online tool for Fort Collins
Utilities water and electric customers.
See the effect of your watering schedule
online within 24 hours. Plus, you’ll see how
it all adds up and can opt to set alerts to
help you manage your use.
You’ll only need your account number and
five minutes to sign up at fcgov.com/mmu.

Sample screenshot of Monitor My Use showing daily water use.

Looking to upgrade your equipment?

We offer rebates to Fort Collins Utilities customers to
help make their sprinkler systems more water-efficient.
Learn more at fcgov.com/sprinkler-rebates.

Find rebates for:

 Drip irrigation  Controllers
 High-efficiency nozzles  Rain and soil moisture sensors
 Pressure-reducing heads  And more!

Certified Landscape Professionals

The CLP program was established to support contractors who have gone
above and beyond their industry standards to achieve professional
certification, classifying them as experts in their landscape fields.

Need some professional help with your irrigation system?

Find a qualified professional at fcgov.com/landscape-pros.
Photos and Additional Information
Maintain Surrounding Plants
As we discussed during the audit,
maintaining plants near and
around sprinkler heads is im-
portant for the health of the turf.
If surrounding plants block the
spray of a sprinkler head it can
create a brown spot where the
sprinkler head should be hitting.
Consider trimming or pulling
back the blocked heads we point-
ed out.

Clogged Nozzle
In Zone 1, we practiced unclog-
ging nozzles with the sprinkler
tool. Keeping nozzles clear will
prevent brown spots from
forming. Sometimes nozzles
are clogged beyond fixing with
the tool. Consider replacing
this nozzle with a new nozzle,
so the clog does not create a
brown spot.
Leaking Head
In Zone 1, we noticed a
leaking head near the
sidewalk. The leaking
head is causing a loss of
water. Consider replacing
this head, and any other
leaking heads, with a new
one to help save water.

Odd Placements
Throughout the audit we
noticed some heads were
hidden within the garden
plants. Throughout the
zones we discussed the best
times to clear the spray’s
path, shut off the nozzle,
turn down the spray of the
nozzle, and let be. Change
the nozzles we discussed
and show in this report, but
monitor the health of the
surrounding plants to see
how they adjust to the
change.
Spray Under Bushes
Under the bushes we no-
ticed heads that did not
need a full spray of water.
This is where you can turn
down the spray or com-
pletely cap the spray with
a VAN nozzle.

Leaking Head
In Zone 2 we noticed an-
other leaking head. Con-
sider replacing this one as
well.
Spray Blockage
Consider moving the
green pipe out of the
path of the spray head.
By blocking the spray of
the head it is creating a
slight brown spot where
the water should be
reaching.

Odd Shape
This corner of the yard
created an odd shape for
the sprinkler system. The
head in the corner was
spraying directly into the
plant and creating pud-
dling in a shaded area.
Consider capping or turn-
ing down this head.
Spray Under Sidewalk
Bush
Another area to consider
capping or turning down the
spray from the full sprays is
under the bushes along the
sidewalk leading to the
backyard.

Small Stream VAN-

Nozzle
As you have already
done, you can turn down
the flow of a nozzle using
a VAN nozzle. This will
still provide some water
to the plants, while run-
ning on a spray schedule,
but not the excess water
currently being provided
through a full spray.
Turn Nozzle Off
Consider capping this
nozzle so no water sprays
from the head. Water is
not needed in this area.
You can turn the nozzle
off by placing a VAN noz-
zle on the head and com-
pletely shutting the arc of
the nozzle. The head will
still pop-up when the sys-
tem runs, but no water
will be used.

Turn Nozzle Down or

Off
Similar to turning the noz-
zle off, you can turn down
the flow of the nozzle
using a VAN nozzle. This
will still provide some
water to the plants, while
running on a spray sched-
ule, but not the excess
water currently being
provided through a full
spray.