Stage 1 · Run every zone
And actually watch each one.
Four services, all set to the watering rules actually in force.
A stuck valve or a cracked lateral can waste more water than the whole garden uses, and it shows up as a water bill rather than as a puddle. We run every zone and watch it, which finds in twenty minutes what guessing never does.
And actually watch each one.
Leaks, breaks, stuck valves.
Before any repair is done.
Verified zone by zone.
Catch cups, zone by zone.
Checked, because it changes everything.
Heads, nozzles and arcs adjusted.
Set to what each zone needs.
Most systems have one zone drowning and another dry, with run times set by whoever installed it. Measuring application with catch cups shows which is which, and correcting heads and run times usually cuts water use while improving the lawn.
Section 373.62 requires a functioning rain sensor on every automatic system, and most we test have failed. We fit or replace it, programme the controller to the watering days your district allows, and show you how to change it when restrictions tighten.
Most failed ones look fine.
As the statute requires.
To your district's allowed days.
How to adjust it yourself.
Pressure, flow, sun and soil.
Zones that group like with like.
811 before any digging.
With backflow protection fitted.
The commonest installation fault is putting lawn and planting beds on one zone, which guarantees one is wrong. Beds want drip, turf wants rotors or sprays, and shade needs less than full sun. Utilities are located through 811 before any trenching starts.
A free system check, with every zone run and watched.