Irrigation Getting Started
June 3, 2014
Presented by: Jeremiah Farmer
Length: 1:12
This webinar covers the basics of getting going with the Irrigation capabilities of Land F/X. We will show how to use the Schematic irrigation tool to lay out a project at the conceptual level, and then the basics of adding equipment to a project, placing, piping, sizing and scheduling.
Additional Resources:
Irrigation Getting Started Guide
Note: The following catalog of content covered in this webinar is time stamped to allow you to follow along or skip to sections of the video that are relevant to your questions, You can also search for content on this page using the FIND command in your browser (CTRL + F in Windows, Command + F in Mac OS.
Rules of thumb
-
Creating a plan mock-up before starting (4:30)
- The importance of setting scale early in a drawing (4:35)
- Layout of the F/X Irrigation menu (5:30)
- The Irrigation Manager toolbar (correlates with F/X Irrigation menu) (5:50)
- The Place Emitter floating toolbar (5:55)
-
The Place Piping toolbar (6:00)
- Flyouts on these toolbars (6:10)
- Overview of the Irrigation Manager toolbar (6:55)
- Irrigation Help, Documentation, Getting Started Guide (8:50)
- Irrigation Design Rules of Thumb (9:45)
- Basic equipment definitions (11:36)
- Determining a water source (12:45)
- Water main/ service line/water meter overview (13:17)
- The importance of pressure distribution (13:50)
- The Schematic Irrigation tool (15:20)
- Creating a schematic area in a drawing (17:46)
- The Match Properties tool (on the Place Head toolbar) (18:40)
- The Circuiting tools (accessed from the Schematic Irrigation Zones dialog box) (19:17)
Example: Inserting a flow total by clicking the Total button (19:22)
- Making changes in the irrigation plan (example: replacing turf with drought-resistant shrubs) using the Match Properties tool (21:00)
- Inserting a second flow total to reflect these changes (and for comparison with the first) (22:57)
-
Adding valves (22:37)
- Display of valves that have been added to a project in the Irrigation Manager (23:13)
- Adding a new valve by clicking the New button (23:25)
- Availability of additional information in the Irrigation Manager (Examples: The Show Components and View Data options) (24:14)
- The Place Valve tool (including location of button on Irrigation Manager toolbar) (25:40)
- Keyboard commands for placing valves (pressing the Q and E keys to cycle through valve sizes) (26:03)
- Placing the valves (26:16)
-
Connecting multiple valves (26:20)
- The Piping toolbar, accessed by clicking the Piping button on the Irrigation Manager toolbar (26:25)
- The difference between mainline piping and lateral piping (26:27)
- Drawing pipe using the Draw Pipe tool (accessed from the Piping toolbar) (26:42)
- Verifying connection to a valve using the Highlight Station tool (accessed from the Piping toolbar) (27:00)
- Identifying valves with the Valve Callout tool (accessed from the Piping toolbar) (and the importance of calling out valves early) (27:38)
-
A few pointers on drawing mainline, including highlight colors (yellow = valve, magenta = point in space, green = snapping to an existing point) (28:55)
- Verifying the mainline with the Highlight Station tool (29:30)
- Verifying lateral pipes using the Verify Laterals tool (accessed from the Piping toolbar) (note that heads not connected to a valve are highlighted in yellow when you use this tool) (29:59)
- Locating and connecting a disconnected head (30:12)
- Checking the selected pipe class by clicking the Pipe Data button in the Irrigation Manager dialog box (30:40)
- The various data options available for inspection and editing in the Lateral Pipe section of the Pipe Data dialog box (30:50)
- Sizing the lateral pipe using the Size Lateral Pipe tool (accessed from the Piping toolbar) (31:20)
- Performing a Station Analysis (31:40)
- Click the Edit Equipment button on the Piping toolbar
- The Equipment Info dialog box appears. Click the Analysis button.
- The Station Analysis dialog box opens, showing estimated amounts of pressure data for the design
-
Irrigation Schedule (schedules are accessed via fly-outs beneath the Manager – in this case, beneath the Irrigation Manager button on the Irrigation toolbar) (32:40)
- Running an irrigation schedule showing only the schematic areas (checkboxes at the bottom of the Irrigation Schedule dialog box) (32:57)
- Overview of contents of schematic irrigation schedule (33:04)
-
Watering Schedule (33:35)
- Setting water amounts per week and days to irrigate for different components (34:10)
- Checking the box to include individual days on the report (34:45)
- Overview of the watering schedule (34:50)
- Sending the watering schedule to a spreadsheet (34:55)
- Accessing the Water Source Data in the Irrigation Manager (the Water Source dialog box) (36:05)
**Note: There is no default for static pressure; the user has to indicate how much psi is available (36:35)
- The Water Source Information field (36:55)
- Placing a water meter by clicking the Place button in the Water Source dialog box, or the Place Equipment button on the Irrigation toolbar (37:21)
- Connecting a water meter to a backflow device with mainline (37:40)
-
The importance of sizing the mainline (38:15)
- The Size Mainline button on the Piping toolbar (38:42)
-
But first … Verifying the mainline by clicking the Verify Mainline button on the Piping toolbar (38:45)
- The UNPIPED VALVES message & checking the drawing for unpiped valves (38:50)
-
Sizing the mainline (39:15)
- Checking the pipe data again & editing (39:30)
- The UNPIPED VALVES message (again) (40:12)
- The Pressure Has Been Exceeded – Reduce Velocity? message (40:20)
- Reducing the velocity (40:30)
- Checking the pressure in the Critical Analysis dialog box (40:35)
-
Placing a Critical Analysis (41:05)
- Overview of Critical Analysis (41:10)
- What to do when you run out of pressure (THIS IS THE TIME TO HAVE THIS FREAKOUT!) (42:55)
- How Schematic Irrigation can help solve these types of issues (43:10)
- Note: The Runtime Schedule shows precipitation rate PER DAY (44:00)
- Establishing multiple runtime programs (44:40)
- Placing a Runtime Schedule (43:30)
**Question: Is it possible to change the runtime schedule to per-week and per-month? If so, how? (45:35)
**Not yet (as of June 2014), but we have plans to make it possible within this dialog box. Stay tuned.
- Running 2 stations vs. running 4 stations (46:20)
- Resizing the mainline to change the overall GPM for multiple valves at a time and more flow (46:38)
- Placing a Runtime Schedule for 4 valves, then checking the runtimes themselves (48:00)
- Deleting schematic layers (LAYDEL command) (49:18)
- Freezing layers (50:05)
- The Boundary command (50:15)
- Adding dripline (select Drip radio button in Irrigation Manager, click the New button, then select a dripline from a manufacturer on the list that appears) (50:40)
- Checking equipment data on the manufacturer’s website by clicking the View Data button in the Select Model dialog box (51:45)
- Adding a pressure regulator to the project and checking the pressure in the PSI dialog box (52:03)
- Selecting a spray function (example: Shrub Spray) – flyouts on the left end of the Place Emitter toolbar (52:43)
- Selecting and placing a Special Spray (53:00)
- Adding and placing an area for the dripline using the Area for Dripline tool, accessed on the Irrigation Head toolbar (54:30)
Note: The line pattern in the dripline area will align with the boundary you click.
- Unfreezing layers and verifying the lines using the Highlight Station tool (55:40)
- Adjusting schematic values in the Edit Schematic Irrigation Zone dialog box (56:25)
- Selecting a spray radius using the Select Radius tool (on the Irrigation Head toolbar) (57:00)
-
Selecting a spray arc with one of the Arc tools (on the Irrigation Head toolbar) (example: Smart Arc) (57:10)
- Toggling between radii by pressing the Q andE keys (57:30)
- Selecting and placing a grid to facilitate layout of heads using the Grid tools (on the Irrigation Head toolbar) (57:35)
- Placing heads and arcs (58:10)
- Adding and placing a circuit using the Circuit tool (on the Irrigation toolbar) (59:20)
-
The Circuit dialog box (59:26)
- Creating a non-plot zone by clicking the New Zone button and drawing the zone in the drawing (59:30)
- Drawing, connecting, and verifying piping within the circuit zone (1:00)
- Match Head
- Copy Head
- Delete Station
- Valve Callout renumber
- Colorize Zones
- Work Area
Contact
- Land F/X
Our software tailors AutoCAD®, Revit®, and SketchUp® to the needs of landscape architects, irrigation designers, and other professionals. We automate your most tedious tasks and ensure accuracy, giving you more time to design.