Sprinklers & irrigation

Ensuring your irrigation system is not over watering your garden and lawn can save a lot of water!

Use the videos below to find the recommended run times for watering your garden, depending on which sprinklers you have, or to find the best sprinkler type for your gardens needs.

Types of Sprinkler & run times

Seasonal sprinkler run times

As the seasons change, so do the water needs of your lawn and garden. The table below shows the adjustments that should be made to your irrigation controllers ‘Seasonal Adjustment’ setting to avoid over watering.

No matter what the season, your controller should always be turned off when it’s raining.

Time of year	Seasonal adjustment
January–February	100%
March	80%
April	60%
May	Use manually as necessary
June–August	System turned off (winter sprinkler switch-off*)
September	Use manually as necessary
October	60%
November	80%
December	90%

*A permanent winter sprinkler ban applies to scheme and bore water users in Perth, Mandurah and parts of the South West and Great Southern regions between 1 June and 31 August each year.

Read a transcript of this video (new window)

Testing your sprinkler application rates

Catch cups (graduated measuring containers) are a valuable tool for testing how efficiently an irrigation system is operating and the sprinkler application rates.

To test, you should:

spread catch cups or containers of the same size randomly around the watering zone
make sure they are at least 1 metre from the closest sprinkler
time how long it takes the sprinklers to fill the catch cups to the depth of 10mm – this is the standard drink for an area of sandy soil.

Read a transcript of this video (new window)

Once you have your reading, adjust your irrigation controller to allow for a standard drink of 10mm using the time taken to fill the cups. You can get a bag of free catch cups from this list of stockists while stocks last:

Find a catch cup stockist

Stockist	Address & phone number
Addwater Reticulation	1964 Albany Highway, Maddington Phone: (08) 9493 8290
Controlled Irrigation Supplies	7 - 8 Delage Street Joondalup Phone: (08) 9300 2799
Elliotts Irrigation Pty Ltd	24 Canham Way Greenwood Phone: (08) 9342 0636
Muchea Irrigation & Rural Supplies	Lot 1 Brand Highway Muchea Phone: (08) 9571 4011
Reece Irrigation - Belmont	85 Belmont Avenue Belmont Phone: (08) 9373 2220
Reece Irrigation - Canning Vale	188 Bannister Road Canning Vale Phone: (08) 9256 3433
Reece Irrigation - Malaga	Unit 2, 813 Marshall Road Malaga Phone: (08) 9209 2590
Reece Irrigation - Osborne Park	420 Scarborough Beach Road Osborne Park Phone: (08) 9201 0286
Reece Irrigation - Rockingham	133 Dixon Road Rockingham Phone: (08) 9553 1120
The Retic & Landscape Shop	Unit 6, Corner Ranford Rd & Bristle Ave Southern River Phone: (08) 9398 4955
The Watershed Water Systems - Cockburn	Shop 32/Cockburn South Central, 87 Armadale Road Jandakot Phone: (08) 9417 8383
The Watershed Water Systems - Joondalup	Unit 2, 7 Delage Street Joondalup Phone: (08) 9300 9696
The Watershed Water Systems - Kelmscott	2874 Albany Highway Kelmscott Phone: (08) 9495 1495
The Watershed Water Systems - Midland	Unit 1, 146 Great Eastern Highway Midland Phone: (08) 9274 3232
The Watershed Water Systems - Morley	Unit 2, 150 Russell Street Morley Phone: (08) 9473 1473
The Watershed Water Systems - Subiaco	Shop 20, 55 Salvado Road Subiaco Phone: (08) 9381 9700
Think Water Broome	35 Clementson Street Broome Phone: (08) 9192 6606
Think Water Dunsborough	Unit 1, 64 Commonage Road Dunsborough Phone: (08) 9755 3405
Think Water Geraldton	296 Place Road Geraldton Phone: (08) 9921 1777
Total Eden Watering Systems - Balcatta	Unit 8, 39 Erindale Road Balcatta Phone: (08) 9244 7532
Total Eden Watering Systems - Bibra Lake	6 Port Kembla Drive Bibra Lake Phone: (08) 9434 7575
Total Eden Watering Systems - Byford	Unit 2, 821 South Western Highway Byford Phone: (08) 9525 4800
Total Eden Watering Systems - Canning Vale	Unit 13, South Street, Corner South Street and Bannister Road Canning Vale Phone: (08) 9455 3338
Total Eden Watering Systems - Greenwood	128 Cockman Road Greenwood Phone: (08) 9342 1188
Total Eden Watering Systems - Joondalup	U6/157 Winton Road Joondalup Phone: (08) 9300 3833
Total Eden Watering Systems - Malaga	Unit 4/2 Carson Road Malaga Phone: (08) 9249 2373
Total Eden Watering Systems - Mandurah	1/15 Gordon Road Mandurah Phone: (08) 9582 0522
Total Eden Watering Systems - Midland	13 Ferguson Street Midland Phone: (08) 9274 6545
Total Eden Watering Systems - Myaree	89 Norma Road Myaree Phone: (08) 9317 1836
Total Eden Watering Systems - Osborne Park	Unit 1, 3 King Edward Road Osborne Park Phone: (08) 9244 7477
Total Eden Watering Systems - Rockingham	8 Leach Crescent Rockingham Phone: (08) 9528 3044
WA Reticulation Supplies	Shop 4, 277 South West Highway Armadale Phone: (08) 9399 9399
WA Reticulation Supplies	12 Lloyd Street Midland Phone: (08) 9274 5500

Uneven results?

If there is a significant variation in the depth of water captured by the catch cups then your sprinkler system is not applying the water evenly and should be checked for design or maintenance faults.

If you need help with this, find your closest Waterwise Garden Irrigator or Waterwise Irrigation Design Shop.

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Once the faults have been corrected run the test again to determine how long to run the sprinklers to deliver the recommended application rate.

Sprinklers & irrigation

Types of Sprinkler & run times

Seasonal sprinkler run times

Time of year

Seasonal adjustment

Testing your sprinkler application rates

Uneven results?