[Bamboo]

I make so much money on drip you wouldnt beleive it!!!
People pay boat loads of money on a new install designed by a designer and they have it installed but wait !, no irrigation!
I give them a tutorial about valves and wires and they cant do it and the hose draggers are all for it. Think about it a busy professional watering plants before work , l;olololololololololololololollolol man irrigation and plants is where its at! Im bustin 10 grand a month chasing designers and un-licenced people around!
I love the part when they have a cheesy soaker hose sys hooked up under-ground with no back flow or check sys. in and I tell them they are being piosended by their irrigation sys!!! They flip and the sky is the limit.
However I dont price gouge or do foolish things I charge for the service and my overhead and my profit.
If you are looking for money talk to your designers in your area that do installs but just dont have a clue!
dOSENT EVERY LANDSCAPER DO IRRIGATION??????????????????????????????

[Uncle Albert]

I don't know how it is in C.A. but in N.Y. you need to be a Master plumber with a license and ins. and a 8,000.00 $ pipe-pulling machine, and some experience . We Install and have a lic/ins irrigation Co. follow up and design a system for the needs of the landscape.

[Dale Wiley]

There is a lot of money in drip irrigation and irrigation in general.

I don't agree with telling them they are being posioned by their own system, because that flat out is not true, unless there is a supply failure that creates a backflow situation and then it is highly unlikey as well.

We mark up drip materails about 300% and charge our normal labor rate. We can add zones on easy and make good money. We currently have over a mile of drip in our nursery and will add another 1/2 mile this fall,

[advanced irr]

Originally posted by Dale Wiley


I don't agree with telling them they are being posioned by their own system, because that flat out is not true, unless there is a supply failure that creates a backflow situation and then it is highly unlikey as well.

Most peole think the biggest cause of backflow is a leak in the town main, They are forgeting about the #1 reason for a pressure loss at town water supply , and that is a fire

[Dale Wiley]

So a fire is going to cause a backflow ??

It is going to reduce the pressure on the supply side enough to backflow from your home and irrigation system ??

That has to be a very heavy load on a municipal water system to do that. I have seen it happen twice in the last 30 years when there is a LARGE demand on a system, say a fire with 6 or 7 engines trying to pump from the same mains in a 4 block area. The water department then usually starts shutting neighborhoods down to supply the fire.

Thats why you install backflows on sprinkler systems, for total protection you need 1 on the system and 1 on the potable supply.

[secondnature]

bamboo,

I am glad to hear you are so successful with installing drip!

Do you have to be licensed to do that where you live, or is there
less regulation with drip vs hardline?

I have installed lots of drip in many of my own personal applications and love installing it. It IS so easy!

thanks

[PSUscaper]

This is all great news and what not....but, it is all absolutely useless to anyone who lives in a state that requires a license for irrigation installation.

For now, all I have is low voltage lighting to get excited about. Lets see, great mark-up, less labor, and ya....all u need is a pick-up, some simple hand tools, and a volt meter, and you can make the same amount of money in one day as you would pulling up in your 60k truck, with 40k machine, with 5k trailer, with 10k in handtools/small equip, and 3 expensive laboreres.

The only problem is I don't know how long low voltage will last. Supposely, it is on the books in my state that you have to be a licensed electrician, but there is no enforcement. However, I've heard rumors that may change.........kind of like the rumors that I heard about the sales tax being applied to landscaping that just became reality.

[4seasons]

first how can soaker hose poison any system? -weird--
do you classify low volume irrigation in the same class as drip? I think you can do drip with it also.

[PSUscaper]

the thing I find so funny about this is that millions of homeowners go out, buy a ortho or miracle grow hose fertilzer, and hook it right up to their garden hose which is hooked up right to their house water. If there is any chance of drip poisoning the water supply, I would imagine there is probably just as great a chance of the hose fertilzers doing the same....yet.....no politicians are crying to ban those. Just all political and environmental jibberish.

[MountainShe]

All my landscape installations are installed with a drip system for the garden planting beds, the only thing that gets sprinklers are lawns. By law you are required to install a back-flow prevention device on all residential watering systems, and there is good reason for that law. Back siphoning/backflow can be caused by many other sources just around the house.

[SignatureRobb]

This is a great thread....I am involved with just about everything thats been said and don't disagree with anything.I have learned that there is more than one way to do things right.what is code in one part of the country may never have been done in another.
I am A certified irrigation contractor and a certified landscape water auditor through the Irrigation Association.I am also certified by Night Scaping and Vista low voltage lighting.I am certified with ASSE for backflow testing,install and repair.
Drip is the most efficient and flexible type of irrigation.Knowledge of water requirements of the plants being watered is important.Using the correct pressure reducer is also a factor.