Catch Cup Test

I just completed a catch cup test and am a bit confused on how to calculate the precip rate - primarily, what numbers do I plug in per zone. I have a lot of overlapping zones in my back yard - some as much as 3 zones per catch cup. I used 10 minutes as the run time for each zone. For example:

  1. Run zone 5 for 10 minutes
  2. Write down catch cup amounts for cups hit by zone 5
  3. Empty catch cups
  4. Repeat previous 3 steps for zone 6
    etc.etc.etc.

Now, this is where my simple mind gets confused. For each catch cup hit by zone 5, should I be using ONLY the amount that the cup caught when zone 5 was running, or do I need to total up the values for the entirety of the water that was emitted by all zones for each cup that collected water from zone 5? For example, assuming the catch cups are in the same location when both zones run:

Zone 5 / Catch Cup 1 - 20
Zone 5 / Catch Cup 2 - 24

Zone 6 / Catch Cup 1 - 14
Zone 6 / Catch Cup 2 - 18

For Zone 5 calculations should I just use 20 and 24 as values, or should it be 34 and 42? Does that make sense? I read the Orbit instructions and it caused some confusion for me.

Also, I’m using http://irrigationaudit.hydrorain.com/get-started/#/audit to do the calculations, so at least that will make it easy once I am ready to input the numbers. :slight_smile:

Thanks in advance for the help and be gentle on the newbie.

Anyone? Could really use the help. Thanks!

I’ve heard good things about the Hydro Rain/Orbit catch can test. It was designed to be simple for homeowners. My suggestion would be to call Orbit. I’m a Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditor through The Irrigation Association and must tell you that a full-blown audit is very complex, so don’t feel too bad.

I did a catch cup test with the Orbit system. I have 3 zones, all of which crossover with each other.

I’ll try to explain what I did

Start with this page: http://irrigationaudit.hydrorain.com/get-started/#/stations/getStarted

I labeled catch cups sequentially from zone 1 thru 3. Catch cups 9, 13, 14, and 19 were in 2 zones, so I measured the total amount from the different runs together.

Then treat each zone as a “station”. So in my case, station 1, 2, and 3. I ran each zone for 10 minutes.

Create Station 1: I had 12 catch cups and labeled them 1-12. Document how many ml’s in each cup for given time period (I did 10 minutes).

Then I hit Next Station
Create Station 2: I had 7 catch cups and labeled them 13 - 19 on the website.

Then I hit Next Station
Create Station 3: I had 11 catch cups, however 4 of which were part of other stations. So I had new catch cups #20-26, and then I input the numbers again for catch cups 9, 13, 14, 19

There you go. Modawg2k just answered your question better than me.

Thanks guys! I really appreciate the responses!

Modawg2k - so if I understand correctly you added the values for Station 1/Cup 9 and Station 3/Cup 9 and used that total as one value in both Station 1 and Station 3, and then did the same for cups 13, 14 and 19.

You got it. And then when you run the numbers, you’ll get the following screen (FYI I just plugged in random numbers to recreate this image)

In this example, you can click on each zone and you’ll get the specific numbers. In the example below, this is what shows when I click on Zone 1, you’ll see that you get the PR, Uniformity (aka efficiency)…

Then create a custom nozzle in the Rachio app for each zone, with it’s own PR. So for my use, I got a different PR’s for all 3 zones, so I created 3 different custom nozzles

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Perfect! Really appreciate the help!

no prob, let me know if you have any questions, i’m not pro, just my experience :wink:

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