Sprinkler heads have varying radius sprays. Then draw the outline of the house and repeat for any other structures. Record your results and water meter size on your drawing. Draw a small S where you will place each sprinkler head. Each zone must be configured to stay within the limits of your water capacity depending on the types of sprinkler heads you use and your water supply. If the distances are too far apart between sprinklers, areas will be missed altogether. Water pressure can be different at every house, even different than your neighbors. Draw the location of your water meter or water source. With your drawing and information you are way ahead of the game. Sprinkler heads can spray in quarter, half, or full circles. Place an "HS" for half circle sprinklers and a "QS" where quarter spray sprinklers will be located. You can look up a professional installer or buy parts for a DIY installation now that you have this valuable information. Sprinklers should be placed distances equal to the radius, in this case 12' apart. The controller is usually in a box mounted on an exterior or interior wall. You can also control which zones will turn on and off on a schedule with the controller box. If it's higher than 35 PSI, write down the number. In addition to the pipe that moves the water, sprinkler systems are made of sprinklers, valves, and controllers. Next measure and draw any concrete such as driveways and sidewalks, then decks and fences, trees, shrubs and gardens. Sprinkler heads work in zones from a common valve. Then measure the parameter of your house and the distance of each side from the boundary lines. If less than 35 PSI turn faucet A down until the reading reaches 35 PSI. With a bit of measuring and sketching, you can quickly calculate what sort of sprinklers you'll need, the number of sprinklers and valves, and the size and length of PVC pipe which your particular system will utilize. Measure the boundary lines of your property first and draw them. Create an aerial sketch of your property.. Now you can measure your water flow capacity. You can design your system with zones for the type of watering required in a specific area depending on the vegetation there, sun exposure, and elevation. There's no reason to consider doing an American Indian rain dance to bring water to your home garden, when just a few days of thorough planning and a good sprinkler system will do the job perfectly every time. At the exterior water outlet closest to the main supply line to your home: *Locate the outside water outlet (faucet A) closest to the main water supply line. As you don't want to be spraying the sides of your house or over a fence, and you do want to keep the watering of concrete to a minimum, clearly specify where you'll need half circle or quarter circle coverage areas for the sprinklers. You need to know what your water pressure is in order to be sure you order parts with the right capacity. Designing a sprinkler system layout requires a pen, a standard size piece of graph paper, a compass for accuracy, a tape measure with 50 plus feet of reach, a can of spray paint, lots of little marking flags, a high end gauge for water pressure measurement and a five-gallon container of some kind. Use a scale of one square foot of land to one square on the graph paper. See how long it takes faucet A to fill your 5 gallon bucket at 35 PSI or the higher reading. 12' is common for residential applications. Sprinklers direct the water, valves control the water flow, and the controller controls the system. *Open faucet B all the way. Time to fill your bucket in Gallons Per Minute (gpm). Turn on M/M PVC Ball Valve For Engineering Construction Factory faucet A completely and look at the reading on the pressure gauge. This should be stamped or printed on the meter. 15 Seconds = 20 gpm 20 Seconds = 15 gpm 25 Seconds = 12 gpm 30 Seconds = 10 gpm 40 Seconds = 7½ gpm Now you know how much water you have at 35PSI. *Locate another outlet or faucet on your house (faucet B) and attach the water pressure gauge. The Rain Zones.