Customer Sprinkler Head Question

Hello! I’ve wanted one of these forever and am sure I’ll have more questions that can be answered from these forums, but this one I didn’t see an answer to.

Back when my home was built, long before I was it’s proud owner, they decided to make a keen way to fill the swimming pool in the backyard: by using a sprinkler zone. They quite literally built zone 9 of the system into the side of the pool. It’s a wide open pipe that is cleverly hidden in the concrete just under the flagstone overhang but above the surface of the water in the shallow end. Auto-filling the pool once a week for only a few minutes keeps the level right and here in San Antonio in the summer, it’s needed, but not if it rains.

Is there a setting or custom sprinkler head I can create for “open pipe” that I can then add to a schedule? I just need it to run that zone like any other - not if it rains, but for a defined number of minutes.

Paul

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@pwidsten - if one searches for “fountain” in the community (e.g. Fountain) there will several topics that mention something similar. There is nothing in v2 of Rachio that will perform this automatically and keep up with the evaporation loss. I’d just set up a separate fixed schedule for this zone and watch it. If the pool starts getting fuller, then I’d shorten the time, and conversely lengthening the time or running a manual run if the pool isn’t full enough.

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Is there any way to add a float valve? You can present water to the valve (say once a day for 15 minutes) and water would only flow if the water level dropped to a point to open the valve. You would need to regulate the pressure to within the valve’s specs (usually less then 30 psi) and you would need a flow sensor if you wanted an accurate estimate of the amount of water used.

Note: You couldn’t rely on Rachio’s built in flow estimate since it assumes water is flowing the whole time the solenoid is open.

This way you are not wasting water, nor having to estimate evaporation loss and trying create custom nozzles and schedules to refill the correct amount.

This is how I setup the autofill for my pond, except I am running the water through a homemade activated carbon filter to remove the chlorine first. I don’t think you’ll need this step unless you need to add chlorine to maintain the pool’s chlorine levels.

You could also add a rain sensor to stop a schedule from running if it is or did rain recently.

@DLane I second this option. This is the option my customers use. The one pool fill valve on an independent fixed schedule is a good choice.

@pwidsten Pool companies (licensed irrigators) in Texas can no longer connect an irrigation line that fills a pool. Although, I know some still do. You are grandfathered in. Just sharing the info.

TCEQ 344.62 (n)
(n) Water contained within the piping of an irrigation system is deemed to be non-potable. No drinking or domestic water usage, such as, but not limited to, filling swimming pools or decorative fountains, shall be connected to an irrigation system…