First of all: The Netspex Sprinkler System Designer does not plan a complete irrigation system like the other three tools, i.e. it does not make a complete proposal from sprinklers to pipelines to irrigation computers, but rather focuses entirely on the topic of sprinklers. This includes selecting the right sprinkler and the optimal, water-saving placement of the sprinkler on the agricultural area.

The tool is free; to use it, you need to register once, which, according to the information on the website, is processed within a maximum of 48 hours. In my test, it only took about 10 minutes and I received the access data by email. This gives you full access to the planning tool; beforehand you can optionally try out the functionality in a (functionally limited) demo version.

When you start the planning tool, you can select the desired language and the desired unit of measurement system.

You can start planning in two different ways:

• By selecting the sprinkler
• By selecting the desired application

Selection of the starting point

If you select “Select a sprinkler”, you skip the selection of the desired application. This is recommended if you already have a specific idea of ​​the sprinkler you need. If you don’t have one, then it seems better to start with the menu item “Select an application”. Here the planner first asks you what application you are planning and this then limits the selection of sprinklers available in the next step to those that are suitable for that purpose.

However, in my test of the tool, it turned out that the further systematic planning when selecting this menu item is probably not suitable for most users, see my comment below. Therefore, it makes the most sense to use the menu item “Select a sprinkler” or perhaps a mix of both methods: So first – if you are still unsure – use the menu item “Select an application” to find out which sprinklers are suitable for the intended application, but then start again from the beginning with the menu item “Select a sprinkler”, as this enables better further planning. I will then present both methods so that it becomes clear what the differences are:

Planning with starting point selection of a sprinkler

Here you can first select the desired sprinkler family and within this the desired sprinkler model from the entire range of Netafin impulse sprinklers and micro irrigation sprayers. The range of water flow and working pressure for each sprinkler family is given. Unfortunately, this data is not given in detail for the models available for selection within the family, but it is usually clear from the model name.

Selecting a Sprinkler Family

And then select the specific sprinkler model

If you are still unsure about which sprinkler model to choose, it is better to first take a detour to the “Compare” menu item, where you can select several sprinklers and compare their performance data.

Placement of the sprinklers

Based on the selected sprinkler model, the specific positioning of the sprinklers on the area to be irrigated is now planned. To do this, you first need to determine the pattern in which the sprinklers should be placed. The two most commonly used systems are the rectangular pattern, in which 4 sprinklers are placed so that they enclose a square area, and the triangular pattern, in which three sprinklers form a triangle. There are also four other systems to choose from.

The next step is to make the basic decision as to whether the sprinklers should be placed on the ground or hanging from above. Then you have to specify how high above the ground the sprinkler should be and what flow rate and working pressure it should work with. Since I have already selected a specific sprinkler model that can only be used standing on the ground, in my case only this selection is possible from the start and only one selection is possible for the height, flow rate and working pressure. In this sense, it is a bit misleading that you still have to make a selection here (limited to one option), the system could actually predefine this.

Now you still have to define how far apart the sprinklers should be from each other. The distance between the sprinklers in a pipeline string is specified under “distance between heads”, and the distance from one pipeline string to the next is specified under “distance between laterals”. So basically the horizontal and vertical distances between the sprinklers. In the classic square formation, these distances would be the same and when planning lawn irrigation with circular sprinklers, you would plan with double overlap.

When using impulse sprinklers, which also irrigate much better in the immediate vicinity of the sprinkler, such a strong overlap is not mandatory. With the planner, you can easily find the optimal pattern for the intended purpose, which provides sufficient uniformity of irrigation while using sprinklers and water as economically as possible. The distances can be adjusted using sliders and the resulting pattern is immediately displayed in a preview image.

Planning the sprinkler spacing

And after clicking on the “Show Performances” button, you can then see what performance data this planning would lead to.

Performance indicators

Sprinkler Performance Data

On the one hand, the precipitation rate that would result from the planning is given here. And on the other hand, three performance indicators for the uniformity of irrigation are given:

• Christiansen Coefficient of Uniformity (CU): The least strict of the three methods.
• Distribution Uniformity (DU): Stricter than the previous method
• Scheduling Coefficient (SC): The strictest of the three methods

For all three indicators, the higher the value, the more uniform the irrigation. The values ​​of the first two indicators can be between 0 and 100%, with 100% meaning completely uniform irrigation, i.e. that every spot on the area to be irrigated receives exactly the same amount of water. For the Scheduling Coefficient (SC), a value as close to 1 as possible is ideal. This indicator is a runtime multiplier that indicates the factor by which the irrigation runtime would have to be increased to ensure that even dry areas are sufficiently irrigated.

In addition, the uniformity of the irrigation is shown in a precipitation diagram, with the different shades of blue showing how evenly or unevenly the irrigation is. By changing the sprinkler distances, you can test how the individual key figures change and thus get even closer to the optimal placement of the sprinklers.

At the very bottom, another diagram shows how evenly the selected sprinkler distributes the water over its throw distance, i.e. how much water is distributed in the immediate vicinity of the sprinkler, how much is distributed after one foot, two feets, etc. etc. This information is very interesting, but would ideally have been displayed one step earlier in the sprinkler selection point, so that the original sprinkler selection could have already been based on it.

The key figures determined, including key data, can be output as a printable PDF by clicking on “Create PDF”.

Planning with starting point selection of the desired application

I will now describe the second option for using the online planner. Here you do not start with the sprinkler selection, but first determine the intended use.

Determining the intended use

You can choose between:

• Field crops and vegetables
• Orchards
• Protected crops
• Frost mitigation

Specification of the intended use

In the menu items “Orchards” and “Protected crops” a further sub-selection can be made: In orchards you can choose between irrigation, frost protection, cooling and cleaning and in protected crops you can choose between full irrigation, bay irrigation, germination, rooting, humidification and cooling.

Placement of the sprinklers

Once you have selected the desired application, you must specify how you want to position the sprinklers. This information is identical to that of the previously presented method: selection of placement on the ground or from above, determination of the distance between the sprinklers, precipitation rate, desired working pressure and height of the sprinklers. The only irrigation patterns available here are rectangular pattern and triangular pattern.

Sprinkler placement menu

My impression: This system seems a bit poorly thought out or strangely solved to me. Usually you determine these things based on the sprinkler you want to use, because it has to be able to meet the requirements. Doing it in the reverse order, i.e. first theoretically considering the sprinkler spacing, rainfall rate and water pressure and then looking for the sprinkler based on that, is on the one hand a rather difficult task and could also limit you completely unnecessarily because certain sprinklers that would have been considered might then not meet the requirements at all.

In my opinion, this approach would only really make sense if you already had a finished irrigation system with pipelines, specified sprinkler spacing, etc. in operation and wanted to replace the sprinklers with a new model. I would therefore recommend using the method presented in the previous step with the starting point “placement of the sprinklers”, which does not have this significant disadvantage. This method is only suitable, if at all, to get a basic idea of ​​what type of sprinklers Netafim offers based on the intended application.

Sprinkler selection

Based on the information you provided previously, you will now be shown the Netafin sprinklers that meet these requirements and you can select the sprinkler you want.

Selecting the sprinkler from a selection based on the previously made entries

Performance metrics

This display is identical to the one described above at the starting point “Select a sprinkler” and shows the uniformity of the irrigation using three metrics and a precipitation graph, as well as the precipitation rate and the water distribution over the throw of the sprinkler. By changing the distance between the sprinklers, you can test the effect of different distances.

Display of performance indicators

Conclusion and recommendation

The strength of the Netspex sprinkler system designer lies primarily in the assistance it provides with the optimal placement of the sprinklers. You can easily try out different distances between the sprinklers with different sprinklers and observe how the uniformity of the irrigation develops as a result, or make conscious changes in order to approach a desired target of uniformity and precipitation rate. This is a good help with sprinkler positioning and is useful for checking previous considerations.

The disadvantage is that the sprinkler selection is limited to the Netafim product range. Using the planning tool makes sense especially if you want to use Netafim sprinklers or at least sprinklers that have very similar performance data. If you use other sprinklers, these can differ significantly in terms of throw distance and water distribution, so that the values ​​in terms of uniformity of irrigation and precipitation rate would be completely different.

Another small drawback is that the order in which steps are carried out in the sprinkler system designer does not seem to be 100% well thought out in some situations, so that you sometimes have to make decisions that are difficult to make at this point. However, the problem can be circumvented with workarounds, so I don’t rate this deficit too highly. A little fine-tuning would do the program some good, though.

All in all, a very interesting online service that focuses primarily on testing sprinklers and their optimal positioning for the most economical use of water and therefore seems well suited to agricultural purposes.

Further link

Below is the link to the Netspex online planning tool:

Netafim Netspex Sprinkler Designer

As an alternative to the browser version, the Netspex Designer is also available as an app for Apple and Google.

Der Beitrag Introducing Netafim Netspex: Free sprinkler planning tool for agriculture erschien zuerst auf Irrigation Blog for Do-it-yourselfer.

The Gardena myGarden planner has been around for many years, the German-language planner from the online irrigation web shop DVS Beregnung went live in 2020 and, in my opinion, is currently a step ahead in terms of quality. Both are web-based and can be easily run in the web browser without downloading any software. This also applies to the planner from Orbit. Orbit is a manufacturer of irrigation products with a sales focus on the USA, but is also known outside the USA primarily for its irrigation computers. In 2021 Orbit was taken over by the Gardena parent company Husqvarna and integrated into the German garden and irrigation company Gardena.

The Orbit Online Planner only caught my eye a few months ago, but from my research it seems it has been around for a few years. On the web you can find the first descriptions and videos of the orbit planner dating back to 2011. However, the online planner shown in the videos does not correspond to the one that is currently available on the web. That in itself wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary. Then they would have developed the planner further, was my first thought.

Strangely enough, however, it is exactly the opposite: what is currently available on the web seems like an incomplete and less user-friendly preview of what can be seen in the videos. I can’t explain it logically and I haven’t found any information as to why this is the case. The only reasonable explanation I can think of is that for some legal reason the original version was no longer allowed to be used and that it was then programmed again in a significantly simplified way, optically slimmed down and provided with fewer details. What is offered looks like a rather listlessly created quick copy of the previous version.

And that brings me to the big point of criticism of the Orbit Designer: The tool is extremely user-unfriendly!  I haven’t seen anything like this on the web for a long time, something like this was more normal in the early days of the World Wide Web. Basically, everything works, but the software is not intuitive to use at all, things don’t work the way you’re used to and in some places you have no idea how to proceed and can only figure it out by trying it out for a long time.

So why am I introducing the Orbit Irrigation Planner at all? Because the basic functionality is basically quite good and also surprisingly extensive. Those who designed it originally went to work very ambitiously and also built in options that are currently not available with the other two designers, e.g. that you can, if you want, specify exactly how a certain micro-irrigation area should be watered , e.g. with drip irrigation, spray irrigation or together with normal lawn irrigation. So once you find your way around, the planner can definitely be of good service to you and may offer you functionalities that you miss elsewhere.

In the following I describe the essential steps in the use of the planner. This is also a good opportunity to look it up if you get stuck somewhere.

The planner can be found at https://design.orbitonline.com/designer. In order to use it, a free online registration is required in advance.

Start with a blank sheet of paper or with an existing property plan

The beginning works in a similar way to what is already known from the competitors: You can either start from scratch or you can load in a sketch you have made yourself or a property plan and use this as the basis for further planning. If you have already created a plan in the software, you can continue with this as a third option.

Orbit Designer home screen

The first and the second point, i.e. starting with an image of a property plan or starting with a blank sheet of paper, basically do not differ from what follows. In both cases, you load the same planner, except that a different submenu is opened at the start.

menu and navigation

A four-level menu tree is displayed on the right-hand side with the following main items:

• Property
• Watered Areas
• System
• Report

Step 1: Draw the plot to be irrigated

Below is a description of the steps in which you can create a plan of the property to be irrigated.

Load property plan and define scale

If you want to import an image of the property, select the “Import Image” sub-item under Property and select the desired image file. Right after that, you have to tell the system the scale of the uploaded image. You do this by defining a straight line on the uploaded image with two mouse clicks and then telling the system what distance this straight line corresponds to.

For example, you could draw a straight line across the width of the garden and then enter that value. Attention: This didn’t always work for me right away in the test, especially when the property plan was quite large, it happened that I couldn’t draw the straight line over an entire width, but a shorter distance worked.

Look closely: The straight line is shown in a very light yellow that is not easily visible!

Enter the distance in feet. Note for readers from countries with the metric measurement system: 1 foot equals 30.48 centimeters. For example, a distance of 10 meters would be 32.8 feet.

Here the floor plates in the lower area were used to define the scale (the yellow scale line is only faintly visible). Each plate is 1.64 feet wide, so the ten plates marked with the straight line are 16.4 feet wide. Since only whole numbers can be entered and because there is a small distance between each plate, I round up to 17 feet (see entry in the box at right).

After loading the image, you can rotate it under “Orient Image” if necessary.

All other points work the same, regardless of whether you have loaded an image of a property plan or draw the plan from scratch.

Define the outline of the property

This point gave me some headaches at first, because it is handled differently in the other tools I know and is not explained anywhere in Orbit. You cannot draw the areas to be irrigated piece by piece here, because otherwise the further planning will not work. Instead, the maximum outline of the property must first be defined in a contiguous area. And then you subsequently exclude those areas that should not be irrigated or define areas that should be irrigated in a different way.

The outline is defined in the “Lot Outline” menu item. There you first click on the displayed lawn icon and can then decide in the tool menu whether you want to place the outline with the freehand tool or in a square shape.

If you select the square shape, you then have to click on the plan and a lawn square will be placed there. This can then be brought to the desired size by dragging the corner points.

If you are working from an image template, then the next step would be to place the outline over that template

The padlock icon at the bottom left of the square locks the selected object against movement. So if you want to place it somewhere else, you first have to click on this symbol to open the lock. If you want to delete an object, this does not work with the Del or backspace key on the keyboard, but you have to click the cross-delete symbol at the top right of the object. Executed steps can be undone by clicking on “Redo” in the toolbar.

In my example with an existing image of the site plan, I defined the outline with the freehand symbol. To do this, simply start at a corner of the image template and click on it, then move the mouse pointer to the next point and click on it again. This is repeated until you have defined all corner points. You don’t have to single-click the last corner, but double-click to complete the outline creation! This is also not described anywhere and is not evident from anything, so that it is difficult to come up with it yourself.

My example plan after drawing the property line with the freehand tool

Draw in the house and other non-irrigated areas

This is done in the two menu items “House Outline” and “Non-Watered Features”. The way it works is the same as described above, so you can take out the areas that are not to be irrigated either as rectangles or in free form. In my case, I draw these with the freehand tool as well. I simply draw over the existing lawn outline.

The house, terrace and path to the house have been added

Step 2: Define additional areas to be irrigated

Namely, areas that are not lawns, because this one has already been drawn in. But those areas that should usually be watered more gently and slowly with drip irrigation, such as beds, flower pots, bushes, hedges or trees. Or even those that are to be watered with nozzle spray sprinklers with a very large water flow. In my example case, I draw in a vegetable patch.

The vegetable patch was added in dark brown at the top right

After drawing in the desired type of irrigation for the area is to be determined. The system also makes a suggestion here. In my example, this is drip irrigation for the vegetable patch.

Determination of the desired irrigation type for the marked area

Special areas to be irrigated

In the sub-menu item “Special Watered Areas” you can now take the planning to the top and specify to the planner whether you would rather irrigate an area with ordinary geared sprinklers or nozzle sprinklers or rotating nozzle sprinklers. Depending on the choice, the planning is then carried out with the selected sprinkler type. On the one hand, this is a great feature that no other online planner I know of has, on the other hand, it could be a little overwhelming for one or the other user. In this case, you can safely leave it out and try the standard planning first!

3. Placement of system components and entry of system performance data

In this step, the missing information that the system needs for planning must be added.

Placement of system components

Here you have to define where on the plan the connection to the water supply is located and where the irrigation computer is to be installed. Optionally, you can also plan a rain sensor and empty piping for later additions to the pipeline. Placement is the same as in the previous steps: click on the icon and then click again on the spot on the plan where you want to place the component.

In the example, the water supply and the irrigation computer are planned behind the house

Input of key data for performance determination

The following key points must be entered so that the system knows what water pressure and available water volume it can plan with:

• Diameter and material of the water supply line
• Static pressure at the water connection used
• Maximum amount of water available according to the bucket test

How to determine the available amount of water according to the bucket test, I describe here in the blog in a separate blog post. This is always the maximum range in which you move, since the water flows out without resistance in this test. In an irrigation system, however, considerable resistance has to be overcome and pressure applied to rise the sprinklers, and the actually usable amount of water is therefore significantly lower in the end. The orbit planner calculates this automatically.

The same applies to the static water pressure at the water connection. This forms the maximum frame, but cannot be completely exhausted in practice. But you don’t have to worry about that either, because the system automatically takes this into account. In the following article I explain how to measure this static water pressure.

The diameter of the water supply line means the diameter of the pipe through which the water is led from the water supplier to the house, i.e. the pipe that leads to the house on the street side. If you are not sure about the diameter of the pipe, you can measure the circumference by stretching a thread around the pipe and then determine the pipe size based on the measured circumference. Since the pipes have different wall thicknesses depending on the pipe material used, the determination depends on the material:

Copper tube:

• 2 inches (50 mm) circumference = 1/2 inch (15 mm) diameter
• 2 3/4 inches (70 mm) circumference = 3/4 inch (20 mm) diameter
• 3 1/2 inches (90 mm) circumference = 1 inch (25 mm) diameter

Galvanized pipe:

• 2 3/4 inches (70 mm) circumference = 1/2 inch (15 mm) diameter
• 3 1/4 inches (82.5mm) circumference = 3/4 inch (20mm) diameter
• 4 inches (105 mm) circumference = 1 inch (25 mm) diameter

PVC pipe:

• 2 3/4 inches (70 mm) circumference = 1/2 inch (15 mm) diameter
• 3 1/4 inches (82.5mm) circumference = 3/4 inch (20mm) diameter
• 4 inches (105 mm) circumference = 1 inch (25 mm) diameter

Enter the pipe size in inches determined in this way and the material from which the pipe is made into the mask. From these values as well as the static water pressure and the available amount of water according to the bucket test, the system calculates the capacity available for irrigation, on which the subsequent irrigation plan is then based.

Key performance data input for my planning example

Placement of solenoid valves

After clicking on “Place Manifolds” the system automatically calculates the number of necessary solenoid valves. You can then also place them on the plan.

Step 4: Generation of the irrigation plan

To do this, simply click on the “Generate Design” button and the Orbit Sprinkler Designer will create a complete irrigation plan based on the drawn property plan, the defined irrigation areas, the placed components and the system information. In my example it looks like this:

Created irrigation plan with irrigation arcs

At the top left there is a control bar with which you can limit the display to specific zones. In my case, the automatic system planned 4 zones to be watered. By default, the irrigated areas are displayed with arcs. Based on the intensity of the color you can see which areas are poured more and which less overlapping. Alternatively, you can switch to a sprinkler view and a pipeline view.

Pipeline view

In contrast to the online planners of the competition, you cannot manually intervene in the automatically created watering suggestion of the system. From my point of view, the auto-plan created in my example is qualitatively okay, correctly created according to the principles of the square formation. Presumably due to the limited range of sprinklers from Orbit, it is partly a bit coarser, with fewer sprinklers, than the planner from competitor DVS Beregnung.

List of required components and installation plan

After clicking on “Parts List” you get a list of all the parts required to put the watering plan into practice. Only products from the Orbit Universe are suggested here in the Orbit Planner, but of course you are free to replace the suggested products with other brands. This is comparatively easy with some components such as pipelines, solenoid valves and connectors, but you have to be careful with the sprinklers, as there are greater dependencies here and the suggestion made will most likely no longer fit if you choose a different sprinkler model.

The extensive installation instructions, which you can download as a PDF file after clicking on “Download Installation Guide” again, are very practical. This contains step-by-step instructions for the practical implementation of the irrigation plan.

Excerpt from the installaton instructions

Link to the irrigation planner: Orbit Sprinkler System Designer

Der Beitrag Introducing Orbit Online Irrigation Planner erschien zuerst auf Irrigation Blog for Do-it-yourselfer.

The range of online planning tools for planning your own garden irrigation is very small. For many years there was only one alternative for anyone who needed a free online tool to plan their garden irrigation: the myGarden planner from Gardena. Meanwhile there also exists a more poorly than well functioning planner from Orbit. Recently, the German company DVS Beregnung, an online shop for irrigation products, has offered a new alternative with the DVS irrigation planner. In this post, I explain how it works and why I recommend it as the best online irrigation planner currently available.

Gardena’s planning tool, the Gardena myGarden Planer, has been significantly improved in recent years and is now a solid tool, but the DVS Beregnung tool is a class better. Really a great tool for irrigation planning! Here, the specialist knowledge of irrigation experts has been very successfully mapped in a program, so that even a layman can plan a very professional irrigation.

Unfortunately, the program is currently only available in German, but with the following instructions it should be possible to use it even without German language skills and alternatively you can use the online translation for individual unclear terms. The DVS Planner uses the metric system, so users from the US and other countries that use the imperial system need to convert the measurements:

• 1 meter = 3.28 feet, 1 foot = 0.30 meters
• 1 liter = 0.26 gallons, 1 gallon = 3.78 liters

The application is no more difficult for the user than the Gardena program, but in the background the program automatically circumvents numerous potential problems and automatically takes important details into account. In addition, it is a great advantage that the DVS Beregnung tool selects irrigation for the planning from the best products available on the market from different manufacturers, whereas Gardena is limited to its own range. In my test comparisons, the automatic suggestion for sprinkler positioning was in many cases much more closely meshed and detailed than in the Gardena Tool, so that the optimum throwing circle overlap came quite close.

In addition, the program automatically ensures a matched precipitation rate (MPR) when setting the sprinklers. To do this, it uses the Hunter MP-Rotator sprinkler range, which has the MPR principle firmly integrated (see also the Hunter MP-Rotator sprinkler tip article). Alternatively, Rain Bird sprinklers can also be used. By suggesting the right bodies, the pressure regulation is automatically taken into account, so that all sprinklers in the pipeline receive the same pressure. In some constellations, the tool also automatically suggests laying a pressure-compensating pipeline circle in the pipeline. The control is professionally suggested with irrigation computers for valve control and solenoid valves and, if necessary, special requests such as the realization of a drinking water system and much more are also taken into account.

How does the DVS irrigation planer work?

The DVS irrigation planner is web-based, so it works without downloading it simply by calling it up in the web browser both on a stationary computer and on mobile devices. Free online registration with DVS Beregnung is required for use. When you create a new plan, you will automatically receive an e-mail with the direct web address of the plan. In this way, if you are interrupted while planning, you can conveniently call up the plan again at a later point in time and from any device and continue planning.

The planning takes place in 5 steps, which I present below. These steps must be carried out in the specified order. As soon as step 1 has been done correctly, the menu for the next step will unlock and you can switch to step 2. Going back to an earlier step to make corrections is always possible without any problems. The 5 steps are:

• Draw a plan and determine which areas should and should not be watered
• Place sprinklers
• Determine water connection and planned control
• Plan sectors and pipeline route
• Check the shopping list and adjust it if necessary

Menus and Tools

These 5 steps and which of the steps you are currently in is displayed using the icon bar displayed in the middle at the top:

In the example shown you are still in the first menu “Draw plan” and cannot switch to the second step.

The usable tools are displayed in a toolbar on the left side of the planning software. These change depending on the currently selected menu item. Only the selection arrow symbol for marking objects and the circular arrow to the left or right (undo or redo the last action) are available across menus. This also applies to the button displayed in the middle below. The plan can be zoomed in or out by clicking on plus and minus, the square grid can be hidden with the grid symbol and the entire plan can be moved by activating the hand symbol. All very practical and intuitive to use.

When selecting an object, a properties window appears in some cases on the right-hand side, in which you can define additional properties for the object.

Additional properties can be defined for the sprinkling area created with the freehand tool in the menu on the right

Below is a description of the 5 steps to be carried out:

Planning step 1 – Drawing the plan and the areas to be irrigated

You can either start planning from a blank sheet of paper, or alternatively upload an existing garden plan as an image file. In both cases, the lawn area to be watered must be defined on the plan. However, it is a little easier with the uploaded plan, since you simply have to trace the relevant areas of the plan.

There are three options for drawing the surfaces:

Rectangle tool

Used to draw rectangular areas. A small square is added by selecting the tool and clicking on the drawing area. This is then changed by dragging the side lines to the required size.

Circle tool

This can be used to draw circular or oval areas.

Free Shapes tool

Allows drawing of irregular shapes. Each click adds a vertex. It should be noted that only as many corner points as necessary are to be set, otherwise setting the sprinklers will be unnecessarily complicated.

Example of a free shape drawing

The set corner points are shown as squares. In addition, circles are displayed at the centers of the drawn straight lines. By clicking on one of these circles, the straight line can be modified into a curve. In the figure below, the straight line at the bottom right has been rounded.

Free shape with curve

For each drawn area you have to define what kind of area it is. By default, the program assumes a lawn area and that it is possible to lay pipeline under the area.

Properties of an area defined as a lawn area.

As an alternative to the lawn area, there are 3 other ways to define an area:

• As a bed & hedge – for areas to be irrigated using micro-irrigation. The tool does not make a detailed sprinkler and pipeline plan for these, but calculates the material required for connection and water supply based on the number of square meters. A supply by means of a drip tube is always assumed here.
• As an area that must remain dry – for sensitive areas that should under no circumstances be irrigated, e.g. the terrace.
• As an area that can get wet – Defining as such as an area has the advantage that the irrigation planner can then, if necessary, rain minimally into these areas for optimal irrigation.. In contrast to the previously defined area type, where this is strictly avoided.

And for all 4 types of area, it must also be defined whether the pipeline may be routed through these areas. This option is enabled by default, so it must be disabled if required. For example, if an existing path does not allow you to lay pipes underneath.

Load an existing plan

As an alternative to start with a blank sheet of paper, you can also load in an existing property plan. With the measuring tool you tell the system what scale the plan is on. To do this, you simply mark any straight line on the plan and tell the system how long it is.

Here the bottom side of the rectangular garden is marked with the Measure tool and told the system that it measures 12 meters (40 feet)

Based on the length entered, the system automatically calculates the scale of the plan and adds a grid. The plan is conveniently made transparent to a certain extent, so that you can see both the grid and the plan.

Measured plan underlaid with grid

Everything else now works exactly the same as when you start from a blank sheet of paper. As described above, the first step is to define the areas to be irrigated. They are simply drawn on the plan here:

Large lawn area in front of the house with terrace, lawn strips behind the house and bed area to the right of it

Drawing the surfaces is very easy and fast with the drawing tools. I drew the lower part with the Freeform tool. The other two faces with the Rectangle Tool. The areas can be changed at any time after the first drawing, so if you have painted something wrong in some places, you can correct it without any problems. I leave the other positions blank. The system then assumes that a pipeline may be laid under them and that they may be minimally overlapped when sprinkling. If you don’t want that, then you have to explicitly define these as areas that have to remain dry or areas under which no pipeline is possible. In my example, this definitely applies to the house and the terrace in front of it, so I now mark this area as an area to be kept dry without a pipeline:

The house and terrace have now been marked as areas to be left out

Finally, I mark the neighboring property in the upper area to the side of the lawn strip and above the lawn strip as an area that is taboo. I’m doing this because the water connection will subsequently be placed on the strip of lawn behind the house. Since the pipeline is always suggested to take the shortest route due to the automatic program, this suggestion would otherwise lead to the neighboring property instead of to the right of the house. So I encircle the lawn strip so that only the desired path remains possible. Theoretically, of course, you can also mark the entire neighboring property in this way, I have limited this to what is necessary here.

In addition, parts of the neighboring properties are now marked as not to be used

Now that the areas are drawn, it’s time to move on to the next step.

Planning step 2 – Place sprinklers

Like the Gardena planner, the DVS planner has an automatic feature that makes a suggestion for the placement of the sprinklers. This happens automatically when you switch to the sprinkler menu item. In my example case, the suggestion looks like this:

Suggestion for sprinkler placement created automatically by the system

The automatic is always based on the principles of the square pattern and tries to adhere to them as far as possible. In my example case you can see the square pattern in the upper stripe implemented textbook, in the lower larger lawn area this could not be 100% adhered to in all places for the automatic due to the more difficult shape, but the suggestion is still ok here. It is normal that the square pattern cannot be maintained 100% in all places. Even with professional manual planning, this is not always possible down to the last detail. From my point of view, however, a passable first proposal. Nevertheless, one should always be aware that it is a suggestion created by an algorithm. According to my previous experience with it, this is very sophisticated and the suggestions are actually always very useful. Nevertheless, in some cases there is still room or a need for manual improvements (see example below).

As written, no placement is suggested for the bed, since a drip hose is used here.

In some cases, this result can be very appropriate. In any case, you should check and control whether and to what extent the principle of the square pattern has been adhered to at all points and where you can still optimize. In any case, do not accept the suggestion as a given, but always question it critically and adapt it if necessary! If it doesn’t quite fit, you can easily use the tool to add additional sprinklers, remove suggested ones, or change the position or throw of the sprinklers. Very pleasant: The program automatically ensures a matched precipitation rate (MPR) based on the sprinkler selection, so that you no longer have to worry about it. The correct water pressure distribution is also automatically taken into account by selecting suitable pressure-regulating sprinkler bodies.

The following two tools are available for placing additional sprinklers:

Sprinkler

Used to place circular sprinklers. To do this, add the sprinkler to the desired location on the plan and use the mouse to increase/decrease the desired throw distance and the desired circle section. You don’t have to worry about the sprinkler type, the system automatically determines the appropriate sprinkler from the throw distance and circle section and also displays the name of the sprinkler model in real time. If you want to draw sections of a circle that cannot be irrigated by a sprinkler, the circle changes color and a warning message is displayed.

Throw distance and circular section of the circular sprinkler are changed by dragging the reference point. The appropriate pressure-regulating body is also listed for the sprinkler.

Alternatively, the sprinkler properties can also be defined via the properties window:

Sprinkler properties window

Strip Sprinkler

In addition to circular sprinklers, the program also includes the option of using strip sprinklers. These are used for irrigating narrow strips and irrigate almost rectangularly. They are not set automatically by the program, but can be set manually in special cases where they are needed. For this purpose, a combination of three sprinklers is always set, one in the middle, one on the left and one on the right. This principle is described in more detail here.

Example of strip irrigation: combination of 3 sprinklers, one in the middle, one on the left and one on the right

I have now critically reviewed the proposal created by the program. What I don’t like so much are the many MP 800 sprinklers on the lower lawn area on the right edge. These have a relatively short throw and the precipitation rate of the MP800 also differs from that of the other MP Rotator sprinklers. It doesn’t matter on the upper closed strip of lawn, but here on the larger lawn I would like to avoid it if possible. So I’m replacing four of the six MP 800 sprinklers on the right edge with a larger MP2000. This gives me a better overlap and the non-ideal situation with the different precipitation rates is mostly solved. I only leave the two MP800 in the corner, because you can’t get there with a larger sprinkler:

Manually adapted plan (4 small MP800 replaced by a larger MP2000)

When setting the sprinklers, the planner also actively shows the areas that receive enough water or are under-watered or over-watered. This is done with a color radar as shown in the following example: Green spots are okay, spots going yellow and reddish indicate an undersupply, spots going blue an oversupply.

For example, the following sample plan still needs some optimization:

Some yellowish and reddish areas are not irrigated or not irrigated enough.

This one, on the other hand, looks pretty good:

There is hardly any potential for optimization here

Once you are happy with your sprinkler placement, you can proceed to Step 3:

Planning step 3 – Determine water connection and control

This step is relatively simple. A total of 3 things must be defined and it must be determined where they should be on the plan:

Water connection tool

This is used to mark the location of the water connection (water tap or pump) on the plan. In order for the system to know how much water to plan with, the water volume in cubic meters per hour must be entered in the associated menu. 1 cubic meter is 1,000 liters. 1 liter equals 0.26 gallons, 1 gallon equals 3.78 liters. For example, if the amount of water per hour is 400 gallons, you would enter 1.51 cubic meters here (400 x 3.78/1000)

The amount of water is required at a dynamic pressure of 3.5 bar (= 50 psi). This equates to a pressure of approximately 2.8 bar (40 psi) acting on the sprinklers plus approximately 0.7 bar (10 psi) of assumed pressure loss for traversing the pipeline and fixtures. This water flow is determined with a water pressure and flow test device. Compared to the bucket test – as used instead in the Gardena watering planner – this method has the advantage that it is much more accurate. The system therefore does not have to keep huge safety reserves.

Note: If you want to implement a drinking water system with a much more complex infrastructure, then you have to switch here from rainwater to drinking water.

Properties of the water supply

Irrigation control tool

Adds a controller to the plan. You can choose between W-LAN control (WiFi) and non-W-LAN control (= standard control).
Note: The DVS planner always provides for control with solenoid valves and suggests the irrigation computer and the valve distribution (next point) accordingly. You can read here which other types of control would be alternatively possible.

Properties of the control menu

Valve distribution tool

Here you have the choice between a valve box built into the ground or a device for wall mounting.

Valve distribution menu

After the water connection, the control and the valve distribution have been defined and positioned on the plan, you can proceed to the next step:

Planning Step 4 – Determine Pipeline

When you switch to step 4, the system automatically gives you a suggestion for the course of the pipeline and how many and which sectors it should be divided into. In my example it looks like this:

The DVS irrigation planner automatically takes into account the amount of water available and proposes the pipelines as pressure-compensating ring lines as far as possible. In my example, 3 sectors are necessary: Two for irrigating the lawn with circular sprinklers and one for drip irrigation of the bed. The pipeline lines are each shown in different colors for better differentiation.

If you select a section of a pipeline line by clicking on it, then you will find out the length of the selected section and the total length of the pipeline line. In addition, the part of the water volume available in this sector that has already been used up is also output. From this you can see whether there is still a water reserve in the sector and to what extent it would be possible to expand the sector with additional sprinklers.

Pipeline menue

If you select a sprinkler, the water consumption of the sprinkler in the pipeline is displayed. In this case the sprinkler would distribute 290 liters/hour:

Information about a sprinkler

Clicking on a connector shows what type of connector it is. In the case of an L-piece:

Information about a connector

The proposed pipeline course can be modified manually by moving existing connector points with the mouse pointer or by clicking on a pipeline section and creating a new connector point and then modifying it. You can do this if, for example, the pipeline runs right through the lawn, but you would rather run it along the edge.

However, it is even more important to check whether the sector division makes sense as suggested, or whether it is better to combine the sprinklers into other groups, for example according to spatial criteria, according to sprinkler type or, for example, according to sunny and shady spots.

What bothers me about the pipeline division suggested above is that the two MP800 in the lower lawn area were assigned to the lower, blue sector. These have a different precipitation rate than the other sprinklers so I want to run them in a group with the other MP800s from the top strip of lawn. So I’m taking these two sprinklers out of the lower blue sector and adding them to the upper, orange sector instead.

To do this, I first make sure by clicking on a sprinkler in the orange sector that the sector still has enough water reserve, i.e. the water potential is still sufficient to operate the two additional MP800. Then I first delete the pipe connections that are no longer necessary in the blue sector by clicking on the relevant pipe sections with the mouse and pressing the Delete key on the keyboard.. I then use the Irrigation circle tool to recreate the sprinkler circle in the blue sector, bypassing the two MP800s. Now I open the orange sector, also by deleting a pipe connection, and extend it with the irrigation circle tool up to the two MP800 and connect them to the orange sector. Finally, I close the orange sprinkler circuit again – done. The result looks like this:

Modified Sector Plan (2 MP800s removed from Blue Sector and added to Orange Sector)

Planning step 5 – Material listing

By clicking on the 5th planning step, the program automatically creates a list of materials with which the planned irrigation can be implemented. The list contains the right products from a wide variety of brand manufacturers. As mentioned above, the sprinklers are Hunter MP rotators, and Hunter was also recommended for the solenoid valves and controls in my tests. The Blu-Lock system, which is very simple for the end user, is used in the pipeline. In principle, however, DVS Irrigation carries products from a wide variety of brand manufacturers, so it is quite possible that Rain Bird and other manufacturers can also be found in different constellations in the list of materials. It is practical that the list also includes all the auxiliary tools, adjustment wrenches, etc. that you tend to forget when planning your own.

In the material list, you now have the option of changing the quality for some products. By default, this is set to the middle of up to three possible qualities and can be changed to a better or worse quality if a cheaper product is enough or if you want a more expensive product category than the one suggested.

If you want to realize something different than suggested, you can of course remove the corresponding product from the list.

Excerpt from the material list of the sample plan

There are now two ways to continue the list. Either you save the product recommendation, or you make the purchase directly from DVS Irrigation, which unfortunately only delivers within Europe at the moment. For the first option, a practical possibility is offered at the end of the shopping list to download the planning including the list of materials as a pdf (menu item “Download your individual installation instructions as a pdf”). This can then be used at will to obtain the suggested components and you will also find a very handy installation guide and instructions on how to make the irrigation ditches. I think this function is a very fair move from DVS Beregnung, since it does not willfully make it more difficult for those who do not want to become customers to use the tool! Even as a non-customer, you can take full advantage of the tool.

The second option is to buy the displayed products directly from DVS Irrigation.

Tip: With the voucher code DVSSEREGNUNG-MJK  you get a 5% discount* in the DVS irrigation shop.

Conclusion

With the online irrigation planner, DVS Irrigation has succeeded in creating a great product. Regardless of whether you intend to buy from DVS Irrigation or not, it is definitely worth using. The planning has an amazingly good quality and is manufacturer and retailer independent. So you can simply do the planning on the planner and then buy the products wherever you want. That and the much more professional range of products from which the planner draws are decisive advantages compared to the Gardena planner. In addition, some important details such as MPR or pressure regulation are automatically taken into account in the planner. Especially as a layman, one tends to forget one or the other. Even if you are already well versed in the subject and planning yourself, it doesn’t hurt to do the plan again at DVS Irrigation to compare the result and make sure that you haven’t overlooked anything in the plan.

The DVS irrigation planner can possibly still improve when it comes to a loving design of the plan. At Gardena you can find nice details such as swimming pools, pots, various garden furniture and much more. place it on the plan, which does not actually do anything, but makes it look more lively and beautiful. And maybe it will also make orientation on the map a little easier. The DVS irrigation planner is limited to the functions and elements required for planning. However, it is currently still at the beginning of its development and the chances of further improvements are very good.

Link to the DVS irrigation planner: https://dvs-beregnung.de/Garten-Planer

Der Beitrag Tip: DVS Online Irrigation Planner erschien zuerst auf Irrigation Blog for Do-it-yourselfer.