Hunter Flow Meter
Have you ever had the following scenario happen to you? You’re having a wonderful day, and when you check the mail, you receive a letter from the city that your water bill is ten times higher than normal, and your heart sinks. “What?!?! I didn’t notice anything different! Ugh.” While certain things inside your house could have caused the high-water bill, the probability that it was your irrigation system is very high. In this article, we’re going to discuss how a Hunter flow meter for your irrigation system will give you confidence that a high water bill won’t happen again.
Even if you don’t know much about your irrigation system, one thing that we can tell you is that most irrigation systems are quite simple. There are valves, pipes, controllers, backflow preventers, shut-off valves and emitters. If you have a lawn, then you also have sprinklers. So at its core, irrigation systems are fairly easy to understand, diagnose, and repair. How does this apply to receiving a letter from the city? When you start to go through your system to locate a leak, there aren’t a whole lot of options for where you’ll find the problem.
The first and easiest thing to do to determine if you have an irrigation leak is to locate your water meter, turn off all indoor and outdoor water-using devices, record the reading on the meter, and wait 20 minutes to 2 hours before re-reading the meter. If the reading on the meter is different than the first reading, then you have an irrigation leak. If you’re uncertain about how to fix the irrigation leak, then it’s time to call an irrigation expert so that they can fix the problem. However, instead of reacting to your high water bill, what if you could proactively know in real-time that you have a leak, and even better that your system could turn itself off without you having to do anything?
In order that you do not receive the dreaded high water bill letter again, we have a solution for you. We can install a Wi-Fi enabled irrigation timer, which is connected to a flow meter (or flow sensor depending on application), which is connected to the irrigation mainline. When the meter senses high-flow, low-flow, or unscheduled flow conditions, it sends a message to the irrigation timer, which in-turn turns off the master valve that’s installed on the irrigation mainline. This immediately stops the irrigation system water flow and sends a message to the homeowner via the app that comes with the irrigation timer.
Based on our clients’ experience with this setup, they love knowing that they can monitor their irrigation system from anywhere. For many of our clients it means monitoring their system from another city, as Greater Prescott is a second home for them. Regardless of this being installed on your primary or secondary residence, this flow meter setup will give you the peace of mind you want regarding how your irrigation system is operating. Call Guardian Landscape today and we’ll get you a quote.
Pros & Cons?
The pros of installing the flow meter, irrigation controller, and master valve are;
- 1) peace of mind
- 2) guards against irrigation leaks and high water bills
Cons of NOT installing a flow meter include:
- 1) a lack of peace of mind, knowing that when the irrigation system leaks, the water will continuously run
- 2) a high water bill when the irrigation breaks
FAQ’s
Q: Is the process of installing all the necessary components difficult & time-consuming?
A: The process isn’t too difficult or time-consuming and can usually be completed in less than one day.
Q: What are the differences between a flow meter and a flow sensor?
A: The difference between the two is subtle;
- They are compatible with different (and specific) Hunter irrigation controllers
- The flow meter has an option to wirelessly connect with the irrigation controller, while the flow sensor is only wired
- The flow meter reports to the Hydrawise Software to display total water usage for budgeting & tracking purposes, which means that you have control of your irrigation system in the palm of your hand via the Hydrawise app
- The flow meter provides flow rates & totals while the flow sensor does not. The flow sensor provides monitoring and not flow rates or totals.
Q: What do the flow meter and flow sensor have in common?
A: Their purpose is to alert the user to high-flow, low-flow or unscheduled flow conditions, which is their primary purpose.
Q: Should I choose a flow meter or flow sensor?
A: It depends on your unique situation. In general, homeowners will elect the flow meter while commercial users will select the flow sensor.
Q: How well does the mobile app work for me to control my irrigation system and notify me when something is wrong?
A: The mobile app is simple & straightforward to operate and YES the app will notify you when something goes wrong.
Q: Can I use my existing timer?
A: Most likely no. The flow meter and flow sensor only operate with specific Hunter irrigation controllers, as that’s who makes the flow sensor and flow meter. Depending on your application, you’ll need a Hunter Pro-HC, HPS, HCC, ICC2 or ACC2 irrigation controller.
Q: Do the flow meter and flow sensor have to be wireless or wired with the irrigation controller?
A: The flow sensor can only by wired into the controller while the flow meter can be wired or connect wirelessly.
Q: What is a master valve?
A: A master valve is typically a standard irrigation valve, but the difference is that it is installed on the irrigation system before all the other irrigation system components, i.e. flow meter/flow sensor, valves, emitters, etc..
Q: Do I have to have a master valve installed along with my flow meter or flow sensor?
A: No. However, we recommend having a master valve so that if your irrigation controller senses high-flow, low-flow or unscheduled flow conditions, the controller can send a signal to the master valve to turn off. This could protect you from something that’s wrong with the irrigation system and ultimately save you money by saving you water.
Thank you very much for reading, and if there’s anything else we can help you with, then please call our office at (928) 396-1577.For more information on the flow meter, click here.
PS If you want to read our article about our Top 12 Most Popular Plants, then click on the link