New video online – demystifying irrigation maintenance!

I recently produced a video for the Urban Conservation Unit. The piece focuses on simple landscape irrigation maintenance, guiding viewers through a number of repairs step by step.

Thems the breaks!

The field plot: where we set our scene

Last year, in the wake of some especially disastrous trench-filling work at the TREC field plot (perpetrated by neither Water Resource nor TREC staff) I noticed one of the rotator heads was pulled out of the ground at a sharp angle.


As I continued to walk the plot I discovered that other heads had been completely buried under the soil used to fill the trenches. My first thought: unearth all heads and wet-check the plot for problems. My second thought: let’s make a video!

Grist for the mill

Simple enough, right? What better way to illustrate some simple maintenance tips than in a controlled environment where even we didn't know the extent of the leaning head's underground damage? Well, on that day, fortune was a sloppy trench-filler!

What began as a simple repair scene to be tacked onto other “as yet undetermined” material grew into a complete work when the subsequent wet-check revealed both a clogged rotator nozzle and a fractured zone line!

Motivation

The culprit unmasked

During our system assessments throughout Miami-Dade County, we consistently encounter homeowners who (unlike property managers) openly admit to not conducting periodic wet-checks on their irrigation systems.

Fractured pipe piece replaced

Naturally, when a nozzle clog, head break or pipe leak goes undetected, the result is often water waste, uneven irrigation coverage and landscape stress (from flooding or lack of water). Ideally, this video will help inspire enterprising folks to roll up their sleeves and do their part for water-use efficiency.

View the video here.