THE 'HOWS' AND 'WHYS' OF LITTLEVALVE WATER SAVINGS

1. OVERSPRAY

Because you dial in the distance that you want the nozzle to throw the water, overspray is eliminated. Everybody who works with sprinklers has encountered the problem of the nozzle screw shutting down after adjustment. The little screw atop the nozzle, at the most, can only be turned down 25% of its value. This is why they make nozzles in 5’, 8’, 10’ 12’ and 15’ radiuses. Conversely, the LittleValve screw is located below the nozzle, its setting never changes, hence, one only needs 15’ nozzles, which can then be adjusted from 15 feet down to 5 or 6 feet. The end result is that water spraying onto adjacent streets, sidewalks, buildings and cars is substantially or completely eliminated.

2. MISTING & FOGGING

Misting and fogging of spray sprinklers is a major source of water waste. The primary reason for misting and fogging is high pressure, which is exacerbated when using smaller radius nozzles. The orifice of a 15’ nozzle is 1/8” in diameter so water droplets exiting 15’ nozzles are large whereas smaller nozzles have smaller orifices, which mean smaller droplets. With 15’ nozzles in concert with LittleValves, misting and fogging is significantly reduced at distances over 12 feet and completely eliminated at distances less than 12 feet – regardless of pressure. LittleValves with 15’ nozzles provide two other benefits: (1) All forms of pressure regulation are eliminated such as expensive Pressure Regulating Stems (PRS), pressure-compensating screens (PC Screens) and pressure regulators. (2) Droplets from 15’ nozzles resist wind drift far better than droplets from smaller radius nozzles. NOTE: A consideration of optimum pressure does not apply as there is no optimum pressure range for LittleValve sprinklers or parts.

3. UNIFORMITY

LittleValves greatly increase the uniformity of the water being applied. The higher the uniformity rate, the less water needed to meet ET (Evapo-Transpiration rate.) Higher uniformity obtained from using LittleValves is achieved in two different ways:

NOTE: Please see ACTUAL WATER SAVINGS WITH ‘LittleValve’ under the TEST DATA tab, in the 2nd sub-tab titled "Uniformity Testing." The water savings shown are due entirely to uniformity. Based on distance, the percentage of water savings shown indicates the amount of time one can normally deduct off the controller.

4. INSTALLING & MAINTAINING SPRINKLERS

LittleValve and Little Tuffy pop-up stems are shipped in the ‘Closed’ position, so after installation, very little water exits the nozzle. One person can flush and nozzle up each sprinkler and then close the LittleValve before moving onto the next. Hence, very little water is used when nozzling-up and the site is kept dry and not muddied as a bonus. Final adjustments can now wait until after all the plants and lawns are planted.

Maintenance of existing sprinklers with LittleValves is performed by just one person without going back and forth to the valve or controller and with little or no reliance on slow-acting remote control apparatus. When flushing sprinklers with LittleValves, one flushes cups of water instead of the gallons normally used.

In March of 2003, a report was issued by the Center for Irrigation Technology (C.I.T.) describing how much labor and water was saved during installation and maintenance procedures. Water savings during installation were as high as 82% and during maintenance procedures as high as 36%. As a bonus, average savings on labor during maintenance operations was logged at 66%.