Planning With Power: Irrigation Design Software

And in an era when customer service means being able to make changes quickly, if not instantaneously, to evolving landscape site plans and still be competitive with a bid, the key to success is automating as much as possible.

Fortunately, there is some help in the marketplace for contractors performing irrigation installations in the form of computer software. From assistance with basic materials calculations to full irrigation design, these products can make a good irrigation designer even better and more efficient in turning around designs.

“The primary advantage for me is that I’m a perfectionist,” admitted Mike Goree, owner of Polydrip LCC, an irrigation consultant and designer based in Baton Rouge, La. “I want there to be no doubt about what is going to happen when a system is fired up. I also want the ability to test multiple scenarios on a site – different heads, different zoning – and determine the best solution. The software allows me to do it, and do it quickly.”

ADDING IT UP. No matter how good a designer is at putting a plan together, there’s no getting away from the mathematical calculations that must be made with every job. To help designers to reduce the amount of time they spend at the drafting table, Hunter Industries, San Marcos, Calif., is offering a complimentary software package that performs these basic calculations.

According to Don Turner, marketing education specialist with Hunter, being able to make these calculations takes the guesswork out of the designs. The user puts in some basic information, such as water pressure from the service line and pipe size and elevation, and the software calculates friction loss, working pressure in the system and the average gallons per minute available to each sprinkler head in the system.

“It allows contractors to choose a sprinkler type with confidence, and takes out the guesswork,” noted Turner. (The software is available by contacting a Hunter distributor or through the company’s web site at www.hunterindustries.com.)

TOTAL DESIGN. The other option in software is to opt for a package that actually helps the designer build a computer-aided design schematic on the screen, create a parts list and quote the job automatically.

Contractors who own these systems say that they make a significant difference in reducing the time spent on projects, but it takes a significant amount of time to get up and running smoothly.

“I’ve gotten to the point where I can take a landscape plan for a $200,000 home and produce an irrigation design in 30 to 40 minutes,” said Bubba Ragan, owner, Irrigation Design Specialists, Colley-ville, Texas. “It’s been a tremendous time saver.”

Steve Russell, operations manager, Crystal Coast Landscapes, Morehead City, N.C., has been using irrigation design software for a little more than a year. He attributes about 40 percent of the company’s business to irrigation design and installation.

He was introduced to the package during his involvement with a major municipal project that involved ongoing changes to a system that included more than five miles of piping covering an area two miles long and one-half mile wide.

The software allowed changes to be made more easily and created an accurate ‘as-built’ drawing for future reference that will prove invaluable with future maintenance, Rus-sell said.

Now, Russell uses the software for designing all of the company’s installation projects. The software integrates landscape and irrigation design, so it’s simpler to change an irrigation system when a landscape plan changes.

On residential jobs, Russell scans a surveyed layout of the home into the computer, does the layout of the landscape and shows it to the customer on a laptop computer. Once approved, he does the irrigation design using the same plan, creates a parts list and quotes the job.

“It’s made a major difference for us, especially on small jobs,” noted Russell. “We’re able to do designs quickly and accurately and close sales.”

Ted Munson, president, Showscapes, West Linn, Ore., uses irrigation design software on 90 percent of the jobs his company installs. “The software allows me to have a very accurate estimate instead of just throwing a number at the job,” he explained.

Munson also echoed Russell’s sentiments that these programs can aid in the sales process. “This gives us a professional drawing to show prospective clients,” he explained. “Buying an irrigation system is a major decision for people, and it’s nice to be able to show them a real drawing of where all of the heads will go and how the system will work to make them more comfortable with what we’re doing.”

Another important benefit of the software is the accurate parts list created after the drawing is complete. Russell said that the list eliminates situations where his crews overbuy on items and reduces the amount of waste produced on a job.

Will Haugen, program engineer, Eaglepoint Software, Dubuque, Iowa, emphasized that by customizing their own databases with their own pricing information, contractors easily export such information into proposals. “That eliminates spending time calculating how many heads and how much pipe is in the plan, because the software calculates that as the plan is created,” he said.

In addition, some of the software comes with the different manufacturers’ various products included in the databases to help producing estimates.

AUTO CHECKING. One feature to consider on software programs is the automatic layout feature. The user can actually instruct the software to lay out a basic irrigation system for a proposed landscape, and the product will produce a basic design.

It’s equally important to note, however, that contractors who mentioned that they sometimes use this feature to provide a framework were also quick to point out that they almost never use the layout without making changes.

“It allows you to get the heads on the page,” said Al Hummell, owner of Rain-scape, a landscape design and installation firm based in San Luis Obispo, Calif. “From there, I run the pipe on the design myself and make the adjustments to the head placement following that. It’s a good help, but it certainly isn’t a substitute for good design.”

“You really have to have an idea of how you want to zone the job before you get started, though,” added Munson.

Russell, as well as the other contractors, warned that using design software is not as easy as simply buying it, installing it and going to work. Estimates on the learning curve it takes to become proficient on the software ranged anywhere from three months to seven months of regular use. Some contractors said that they bought the software at the beginning of the slowest time of the year to give them the largest block of time to practice on the software, which is exactly what Haugen recommended.

“If a contractor can dedicate at least one hour a day during the winter or slow season and rework a plan on the computer that they’ve already designed on paper, they can be pretty fluent with the software in four to six weeks,” Haugen remarked.

Another consideration is setting up the system. These software packages allow the user to enter a variety of different sprinkler heads, controllers and valves from many different manufacturers, and it takes time to program the software to use the equipment the user prefers.

“When you have it working well, you can get to the point where you can ask for a specific valve assembly, and the parts list will reflect all the different items needed to create that assembly,” said Hummell. “But you have to be willing to spend a lot of time on it.”

The contractors also warned that the software does not provide contractors an instant license to design irrigation systems. “It won’t make someone who’s not very familiar with irrigation systems capable of doing designs,” warned Hummell. “But it will make a good irrigation designer more efficient at what he or she does, allow them to work faster and be more accurate.