Garden innovations - sprinkler irrigation

Garden watering is the fastest growing sector of water demand, and the sector most likely to be influenced by climate change. If we look at the average proportion of water used 'outside the house' in Britain it may not seem that large at around 3-5%, but it includes all households (even those without gardens) and it covers the whole year. So given that households with gardens use much more water in summer and during dry periods, then we know that a far higher percentage of the weekly or monthly water use is being applied outdoors at the very time when mains supplies are likely to be most limited. At the same time, garden irrigation needs less sophisticated collection and storage systems and plants actually prefer rainwater - so several new irrigation systems use pumps and 'grey water filtration' to harvest bath water, pool water and even washing machine water, as well as water butts and rain barrels, to use for sprinkler irrigation.

Installing such systems requires expert support, but you can do the first part of the work yourself:

1. Start by drawing a sketch of the area on a scale of 1:100 (1 cm is equivalent to 1 metre). The easiest way is to draw on millimetre graduated paper which makes it easy to see the different measurements without having to use a ruler.
2. Draw in the different areas for the house, terrace, pond, lawn, flower beds, etc.
3. Also indicate where the tap or pump is located and where the grey water will come from as this influences the way the system is designed
4. Now work out the area (sq m) that needs to be watered, which will enable your specialist to work out the best pump and sprinkler system for you
5. Note any details like regular weekends away or holidays so that you can decide if a programmable or manual system of sprinklers will meet your needs best.

Garden innovation sprinkler photograph by Phu Son, used under a creative commons attribution licence