Thursday, August 30, 2012

Low Water Systems


creative commons photograph


We love beautiful blooming gardens, but, hello – we live in the dry Colorado climate! What is the most sustainable irrigation system for our gardens?

Lucky Colorado residents are eligible for FREE sprinkler audits, provided by the CRC. These sprinkler experts will come to your house and check the efficiency of your sprinkler system.

Even before you check our your system, it’s a good idea to think about what exactly you watering. Is your system the most efficient system for your needs?

Most of the experts out there agree that the best choice for irrigation is a drip irrigation system. They are inexpensive and highly efficient. The system will put water where you want it, and not waste water where you don’t. Instead of watering large areas of land, as is done with sprinkler systems, a drip system carries the water directly to the base of plants through a system of small pipes so that the water goes where it is needed. Every drop is used by the plant which minimizes wasted water.

There are some disadvantages to drip irrigation systems. The Colorado Extension tells us that if drip irrigation emitters are poorly placed (too far apart or too few in number) root development may be restricted by the limited soil area wetted. Water seeping at ground level is hard to see and makes it difficult to know if the system is working properly. An indicator device that raises and lowers a flag to show when water is flowing is available to overcome this issue. If you are concerned that this may not be the right system for your needs, click through this link , which will take you to a concise irrigation system database from the Colorado State Extension office, and find the system that is!


Drip irrigation systems








written by Roxanna Shohadaee

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