Lesson Six

by Tom Lanier, Sprinkler Pros 

Lesson Six: Sprinkler Heads. This lesson includes ‘get to the point and don’t confuse me’ sentences in bold.

Remember the days when the old standbys were referred to as ‘popups’ and ‘Rain Birds’? Remember when gasoline was only 25c and Brylcream was cool? Oh and then came The Dry Look! Well today is a new day and we’ve come a long way, baby.I will attempt to briefly educate without overwhelming. The popups are still around, but they are not brass anymore. Those were tough as nails, but they were water wasters, were limited on spray patterns and weren’t sealed so bugs like earwigs would invade the system through them and clog the nozzles (Blech!!). Today our popups are plastic and the quality ones have great seals and many spray patterns including easily adjustable ones.

The commonly known ‘Rain Birds’ were invented some 70 years ago here in our wonderful state and were thus named due to their appearance and function. They are technically called impact sprinklers. Those are still around, but are not used in new landscapes. The plastic popup impacts have been replaced with gear-driven rotor sprays. The plastic impact popups pop up out of a canister (or can) that can fill with grass, dirt, and rocks. The new rotor sprays are sealed units so eliminate those problems.

There is nothing magical about a popup. If you need to irrigate an area of your landscape, a popup, per se, is not the answer.  Popups are intended to be stealthy and stay flush with the soil—not above it. I’ve seen popups on risers two or three feet high. That defeats the purpose of being a popup. If you need some height to reach over an object or an incline, there are now 6” and 12” popups. A technique for flower beds that is usually preferred is to put what’s called a shrub body on a riser (a UV resistant, threaded pipe) and then screw the spray nozzle onto the shrub body. If you have large beds then you can screw on a rotor spray head onto the riser that is designed to be on the riser—it’s not in a popup body.

Well, those are the two main sprinkler heads in our industry—standard popups and rotor sprays. Just remember not to mix the two types on the same sprinkler line due to the conflicting amount of time the two require to run. There are many variations of these to suit your needs including ones with pressure regulators or check valves built in.

If you need consulting on this matter or you need sprinkler work done my cell phone is 878.5449. Thank you for a great year! I hope this series has been a help.

May your Thanksgiving holiday bring renewed warmth to your family.