All lawn sprinkler systems are a maze of pipes, electronic parts and sprinkler heads that work in concert to irrigate lawns and other landscapes with the water they need to grow.
The heart of many of these systems is the remote control valve. Sometimes referred to as a zone, station or solenoid valve, a lawn sprinkler system will have a remote control valve associated with every watering zone that system incorporates.
A watering station is composed of a group of sprinkler heads whose water supply lines are linked to that remote valve. When a watering station is activated from the timer, an electrical signal is sent via a pair of field wires to the connected `solenoid,` which opens the valve hydraulically, thus allowing the water to flow to those linked sprinkler heads.
If you're a homeowner, the logic behind your contractor`s choice of valve location might escape you! That's because contractors often don't group all the remote control valves in the same location; it`s usually more practical to route a single `main` supply pipe, connecting the solenoid valve where it intersects each watering station around the property. If all the valves were grouped together in a single location it might make repair jobs easier, but it would require a separate `feeder` pipe from each valve routed to the watering station it controls. On large landscapes, this would require lots of plumbing in a big hole in the ground, as well as, large pipe sizes. Not very efficient.
But there are some situations where grouping valves together would make sense. For instance, if the property gets a lot of foot traffic, vehicle use or animal visitation, locating the valves in a single place, in a protected hole, would be advisable.
Sometimes valve placement isn`t given that much forethought. For example, a particular spot may have been chosen only because that`s where the installer ran short of control wire. And an installer`s good intention of choosing a service-friendly place for a valve is often waylaid by an unplanned landscape feature to follow.
Then again, the remote control valve -- if installed properly -- should not need much maintenance, so locating it won't be all that important. If he has to, the contractor knows there are all sorts of ways he can find it.
The heart of many of these systems is the remote control valve. Sometimes referred to as a zone, station or solenoid valve, a lawn sprinkler system will have a remote control valve associated with every watering zone that system incorporates.
A watering station is composed of a group of sprinkler heads whose water supply lines are linked to that remote valve. When a watering station is activated from the timer, an electrical signal is sent via a pair of field wires to the connected `solenoid,` which opens the valve hydraulically, thus allowing the water to flow to those linked sprinkler heads.
If you're a homeowner, the logic behind your contractor`s choice of valve location might escape you! That's because contractors often don't group all the remote control valves in the same location; it`s usually more practical to route a single `main` supply pipe, connecting the solenoid valve where it intersects each watering station around the property. If all the valves were grouped together in a single location it might make repair jobs easier, but it would require a separate `feeder` pipe from each valve routed to the watering station it controls. On large landscapes, this would require lots of plumbing in a big hole in the ground, as well as, large pipe sizes. Not very efficient.
But there are some situations where grouping valves together would make sense. For instance, if the property gets a lot of foot traffic, vehicle use or animal visitation, locating the valves in a single place, in a protected hole, would be advisable.
Sometimes valve placement isn`t given that much forethought. For example, a particular spot may have been chosen only because that`s where the installer ran short of control wire. And an installer`s good intention of choosing a service-friendly place for a valve is often waylaid by an unplanned landscape feature to follow.
Then again, the remote control valve -- if installed properly -- should not need much maintenance, so locating it won't be all that important. If he has to, the contractor knows there are all sorts of ways he can find it.
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Learn more about automatic lawn sprinklers in St. Louis. Stop by MPR Supply's site and discover what this automatic sprinkler supply company can do for you.
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