• Watering Tips
• Supplier Manuals
• Backflow Prevention and Corresponding Municipal Regulations
• Glossary of Irrigation Terms
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Gardening Links

With educated irrigation practices, you can significantly reduce the amount of water it takes to keep your lawns and gardens vibrant and healthy through the hot summer months. Read on for details on watering restrictions, the GVRD's water conservation web site, and how Rain Bird's PRS heads can save you water.

Watering Restrictions Schedule

The Greater Vancouver Regional District reinforces this conservation through their watering restrictions schedule, which starts June 1st. These regulations keep the rate of water consumption evenly distributed throughout the summer in the GVRD, lowering the risk of reservoir levels being depleted too quickly.

Did you know ... Watering your lawn for one hour uses about as much water as...5 dishwasher loads, 5 loads of laundry AND 25 flushes of the toilet (1500 litres in total).

Do your part, and follow the schedule:

Effective June 1 - September 30
Sprinkling allowed: 4AM - 9AM and 7PM - 10PM

Wednesday and Saturday: EVEN numbered addresses

Thursday and Sunday: ODD numbered addresses

• Special permits are available that allow more frequent watering of newly planted lawns. Contact your local municipality for more information.

• The watering of vegetable and flower gardens is not affected by the these regulations. You may water your garden as often as needed, but please consider using a watering can or a hose with a spring-loaded shut-off nozzle to reduce water waste.

GVRD Water Conservation Web site

For more great ideas on how you can conserve water as you irrigate, visit http://www.gvrd.bc.ca/water/index.html. 

Rain Bird's PRS heads save water

Rain Bird has a fantastic mister head that saves water and money. A patented PRS pressure regulator built into the stem of the head actually saves water by reducing the excess water pressure and flow exiting the head, leaving nothing more than the perfect operating pressure for each nozzle. 

The system works by maintaining a constant outlet pressure of 30 psi (2,1 Bars). Spray heads and nozzles perform best at 30 psi, ensuring maximum spray head and nozzle performance, even with varying inlet pressures. The system will maintain a constant pressure, regardless of the nozzle used. 

The pressure reduction feature ends misting and fogging caused by high lateral line pressure. This stops water waste and ensures that necessary watering occurs in high pressure or wind conditions. For the average garden zone that has a fog or mist around it, (running 10 minutes per day, 6 days per week, and 3 months per year) the water wastage can add up to thousands of gallons per year for just that one zone! For commercial sites, or homes that are metered, these savings can add up to hundreds of dollars per year. 

The PRS head also restricts water loss by up to 70% if the nozzle is removed or damaged, which saves water and money, and reduces possibility of accidents and property damage. As an added benefit to vandalism-prone sites, the PRS head restricts the flow of water to the head under ALL circumstances. So, when the hooligans kick off a running head, instead of wasting hundreds of gallons and a fountain streaming 30' high, you will loose 70% less water and the resulting fountain spray will be significantly smaller. As water becomes a more scarce resource solutions like this head will not only save water, but also save money! 

The PRS heads are easily retrofit to any manufactures spray heads, and come in 4", 6" and 12" pop-up models, swap outs start at $10.68 plus labour and taxes. For larger sites we can do an on-site consultation at our regular hourly charge-out rate to determine exactly how long the payback period for upgrades to the PRS head would be. For more information, send an email to office@universitysprinklers.com.