I have a Rachio 2nd gen 8 zone unit. For the most part, it does exactly what I need. Our water comes from an irrigation district and has a high silt load. Constant filter cleaning is mandatory. The irrigation district has initiated restrictive water availability for the 50 odd users. This has led to varying flow rates in the shared distribution system, and is dependent on the number of simultaneous users at any given time. I have recently installed an integrated flowmeter which has helped me monitor my usage. I have a water right of about 800 gallons available per day of the 24 week season. However, with fluctuating pressures, the amount of water distributed to specific zones at any given time varies.
The ability to assign a gallon limit per zone, would theoretically allow receipt of my water right, regardless of pressure. The zone would complete quickly under high pressure and take longer under low. My rain sensor would disable usage, if triggered, and I could adjust the days of the schedule, consistent with the progression of the season. Most importantly, I would be assured of not exceeding my allowed water right. It seems Rachio could add an option to program the gallon cap for each zone. It would only be available if the Rachio controller recognized the existence of a flow meter sensor. If this is a feature you would like, please support or like this suggestion. If there is an impediment to this option, please explain. Thank you!
The number of users that have varying water pressure must be small. Therefore, this feature will not have wide appeal. Depending upon how low the pressure goes, you might consider using pressure regulated heads on your risers, or pressure regulated drip tubing (Netafim), or putting a pressure regulator on your main line, set to a low enough pressure that would always be exceeded by line pressure. That way, you will have a constant amount of watering regardless of line pressure. Watering at night might also minimize pressure drops, since most irrigation is occurring during the day.
Thank you for responding. Your suggestions are helpful, but pressure is too unpredictable and low at times to suffice. I have installed a flow meter, reduced the size of my nozzles, clean my inline filters and section endpoints frequently for silt buildup, etc. I am able to get my volume by frequently monitoring the flow meter and changing my zone runtimes repetitively to achieve proper distribution. Thus, my query of interest in such an option. Being able to set a value, 150 gallons for instance for a section and know that the controller would turn off at the appropriate amount would insure more accurate water usage with less oversight. However, I will install a 10 gpm restrictor next season, test and report back to this post.