Full Product Manual
Table Of Contents
- Low-Volume Landscape Irrigation Design Manual
- FOREWORD
- CONTENTS
- 1 WHAT IS XERIGATION®?
- 2 THE DESIGN PROCESS
- 3 GATHER SITE DATA
- LOW-VOLUME DESIGN WORKSHEET: DENSE HYDROZONE
- Calculating Water Requirements
- BASE PLANTS IN DENSE HYDROZONES
- TABLE 3-1: MINIMUM FILTRATION REQUIREMENTS
- TABLE 3-2: DETERMINING THE SOIL TYPE
- TABLE 3-3: SOIL INFILTRATION AND WETTING PATTERN
- TABLE 3-4: PET RATES BASED ON CLIMATE
- Hydrozones
- Chapter 3 Review
- Figure 3-3: Sample Plot Plan—Doyle Residence
- Figure 3-4: Sample Site Data Worksheet—Doyle Residence
- Answer Key
- 4 DETERMINE PLANT WATER REQUIREMENTS
- Figure 4-1: Dense Hydrozone Design Worksheet
- Calculating Water Requirements
- TABLE 4-1: BASE PLANTS IN DENSE HYDROZONES
- Calculate K c
- TABLE 4-2: ESTIMATED SPECIES FACTORS
- TABLE 4-3: ESTIMATED DENSITY FACTORS
- TABLE 4-4: ESTIMATED MICROCLIMATE FACTORS
- Calculate Water Require-ment for Dense Plantings
- Calculate Water Requirement for Individual Plants in a Sparse Hydrozone
- Area of Plant Canopy
- Application Efficiency
- Water Requirement (GPD)
- Chapter 4 Review
- Answer Key
- 5 IRRIGATE BASE PLANTS
- Identifying the Base Plant
- Emission Devices
- Labor Cost Considerations
- TABLE 5-1: XERIGATION EMISSION DEVICE APPLICATION MATRIX
- Dense Plantings
- TABLE 5-2: LANDSCAPE DRIPLINE CHOICES
- TABLE 5-3: LANDSCAPE DRIPLINE SPACINGS AND FLOW RATES
- LATERAL LINE SPACING WORKSHEET
- Figure 5-3: Equal Lateral Line Spacing
- Landscape Dripline: A More Technical Approach
- TABLE 5-4: MINIMUM RECOMMENDED WATERING DEPTHS
- Emitter Spacing Versus Watering Depth
- TABLE 5-5: MAXIMUM EMISSION DEVICE SPACING (INCHES)
- TABLE 5-6: RECOMMENDED EMITTER SPACING
- Xeri-Sprays™
- Sparse Plantings
- Selecting Emitters
- TABLE 5-7: EMISSION DEVICE SELECTION
- Recommended Emitter Placement
- Calculating the Wetted Area
- TABLE 5-8: AREA WETTED BY EACH EMITTER (SQ. FT.)
- Chapter Review
- Answer Key
- 6 CALCULATE SYSTEM RUN TIME
- Calculate System Run Time
- Dense Plantings
- TABLE 6-1: EMITTER DISCHARGE RATES (EDR) FOR LANDSCAPE DRIPLINE IN INCHES PER HOUR*
- Sparse Planting
- 2.Determine Maximum Run Time
- TABLE 6-2: MAXIMUM SYSTEM RUN TIMES FOR COARSE SOIL
- TABLE 6-3: MAXIMUM SYSTEM RUN TIME FOR MEDIUM SOIL
- TABLE 6-4: MAXIMUM SYSTEM RUN TIME FOR FINE SOIL
- 3.Determine Irrigation Interval
- Chapter Review
- Answer Key
- 7 IRRIGATE NON-BASE PLANTS
- 8 SYSTEM LAYOUT
- Figure 8-1: Correct placement of emitters
- Figure 8-2: Emitter layout options
- Figure 8-3: Layout using poly drip tubing (Xeri-Tube 700)
- Figure 8-4: Layout using rigid PVC
- Using Inline Tubing
- Placing Supplemental Emitters
- Figure 8-5: Placement of supplemental emitters for shrubs or trees: top view
- Figure 8-6: Placement of supplemental emitters for shrubs or trees: section view
- System Configuration
- TABLE 8-1: SPACING OF STAKES AND STAPLES
- Figure 8-7: Landscape Dripline system configuration
- Irrigating Slopes
- Figure 8-8: Correct emitter placement on slope
- Figure 8-9: Correct placement of lateral pipe on slope
- Figure 8-10: Placement of Landscape Dripline on a slope
- Container Plants
- Figure 8-11: Micro-bubbler in a container plant
- Figure 8-12: Multiple emitters in a container plant
- Figure 8-13: Xeri-Bug emitter in a hanging basket
- 9 SYSTEM HYDRAULICS
- Water Pressure
- Figure 9-1: Determining static pressure based on elevation
- Calculating Pressure Loss
- Figure 9-2: Total flow worksheet
- Figure 9-3: Completed total flow worksheet
- Figure 9-4: Flow rate worksheet
- TABLE 9-1: MAXIMUM FLOW RATES
- Determine Maximum Lateral Lengths
- TABLE 9-2: MAXIMUM LATERAL LENGTHS
- TABLE 9-3: MAXIMUM LATERAL LENGTH XT-700
- Pressure Loss Calculation
- TABLE 9-4: MINIMUM/MAXIMUM FLOWS FOR PROPER VALVE PERFORMANCE
- TABLE 9-5: MINIMUM FLOW REQUIREMENT FOR PROPER VALVE PERFORMANCE*
- TABLE 9-6: FRICTION LOSS CHARACTERISTICS OF XERI-TUBE 700
- High Pressure
- Maximum Inlet Pressure
- TABLE 9-7: RAIN BIRD PRESSURE REGULATORS
- Hydraulics Worksheet
- 10 INSTALLATION, MAINTENANCE AND TROUBLESHOOTING
- A FORMULAS FOR XERIGATION DESIGN
- B PET DATA
- C FRICTION LOSS AND PERFORMANCE DATA
- D XERIGATION PLANNING FORMS
- E GLOSSARY
- F XERIGATION PRODUCT LINE
- INSTALLATION DETAILS
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- INDEX
- Contact Information
Forward
FOREWORD
Over the past four years, “Xerigation
®
Product, Design and Installation” semi-
nars have been conducted across the U.S., in Mexico, Canada and even Europe.
Rain Bird has talked to more than 1,000 irrigation professionals about landscape
low-volume irrigation. In the past, the most frequently asked question was,
“Why should I use low-volume irrigation?” Today, however, most seminar
attendees share the basic understanding that, when properly used, landscape
low-volume irrigation products can save significant amounts of water. These
products can also help keep water off walls, windows, sidewalks and streets. At
the same time, the use of these products promotes healthier plant growth because
water is delivered more slowly and at lower pressures at or near plant root zones.
Now, the most frequently asked questions are, “What is the proper way to do
drip design?” “How do you decide when and where to use drip products?”
“How can the maintenance factor associated with drip be significantly reduced
or eliminated?” These kinds of questions indicate a growing acceptance of low-
volume irrigation within the industry, a trend that is helping landscape drip
irrigation equipment become fundamental to good water management practice.
This design manual is intended to provide straightforward answers to these
questions. It is our hope that the reader will realize the benefits of landscape low-
volume irrigation by utilizing the design approach explained in this manual. It is
an approach that has proven itself in practice over the past several years.
This manual continues to take the same cutting-edge approach to low-volume
irrigation by considering plant root depths and water loss due to percolation
below the root zone to be essential design parameters.
In this manual, we will introduce the Xerigation product line and discuss the
benefits of its use. We will then discuss the design approach for a low-volume
delivery system and follow up with practical recommendations for installation,
ongoing maintenance and troubleshooting.
For more information on the Xerigation product line or Rain Bird’s broad line of
irrigation products, contact your local Rain Bird Distributor, Rain Bird Represen-
tative, or call our Technical Services Group at 1-800-247-3782. Or, visit our
website at www.rainbird.com.
The reader should realize that it is not possible in a single publication to cover all
conceivable drip design situations that may arise. As such, it is not the intent of
this design manual to provide all the answers. Rather, this manual is intended to
help the user understand the fundamentals of low-volume irrigation and to
provide a foundation for a successful experience with drip.
®