Water World: Climate conquered

October 21, 2019 - By Danielle Pesta

Location: Palmdale, Calif.
Company: Stay Green

California’s High Desert climate makes for a challenging work environment. Dave Colburn and his crew confronted extreme weather conditions while installing an irrigation system for a community in Palmdale, Calif.

Four full-time crew members installed 78,000 feet of Rain Bird XFS tubing to replace existing sprayheads.

Varying temperatures made components of the new irrigation system difficult to put together, he says.

“It was freezing cold part of the year and 110 degrees the rest of the time,” Colburn says.

Working in front of homes on walkways and driveways became a logistical issue at times. “We tried to work around the homeowners. We didn’t want to be a hinderance to them,” he says.

The installation was split into seven sections and took more than a year and a half to complete.

Since the project’s completion, Colburn says there’s been significant water savings, and he anticipates even more savings as the system timing gets more dialed in.

“We’re at 29-32 percent water savings year to date, compared to when the property still had the sprayheads,” he says, noting Stay Green continues to maintain the property’s irrigation.

The project won the company a 2018 Bronze Award from the National Association of Landscape Professionals’ Awards of Excellence program.

Photo: Brittany Carr Seely

The property consists of nearly 1.15 million square feet of acreage. All irrigated plant areas were converted from overhead spray to dripline. Only the grass areas were left unchanged.

Photo: Brittany Carr Seely

he new system consists of nearly 15 miles of drip tubing and three timers with 70-80 stations on each.

Photo: Brittany Carr Seely

The project was completed in stages so the local water company could inspect and verify the installation for rebate money the community’s homeowners’ association would receive.