Seasonal Adjustments for Irrigation Systems

The warmer temps of the summer are fading as Autumn is right around the corner. Plant water requirements are declining each week and your irrigation system run times should be too. There is an easy way to make adjustments to your controller’s performance with one simple feature.

Seasonal adjustment is a feature on most irrigation controllers that reduces or increases run times for all zones based on a percentage of the programmed time (Example: 10 minute run time at 50% would instead run 5 minutes). This makes run time adjustments simple and eliminates confusion of adjusting start times or watering days. The hottest time of the year is the biggest water demand at 100% with the greatest potential water savings in spring and fall.

From the City of Bend, this chart shows the weekly requirement of water for lawns throughout the season

 Average seasonal adjustment settings:

April: 54%

May: 74%

June: 96%

July: 100%

August: 88%

September: 67%

October: 43%

If your controller setting is in increments of 10%, round up to the next higher percent.