Feature Request: Better / More Details in Zone View

It would be really helpful (especially when getting zones configured or reconfigured) to have a more detailed view of upcoming waterings. I like the calendar view on the web and mobile apps under the “Schedule” section, and it would be awesome to have that view specifically for any selected zone. So if I click on a zone and review it’s details, it gives me a great list view of historical watering, but nothing for upcoming waterings. That would be a nice addition.

I seem to take on new landscaping projects every year, reconfiguring my yard, and when I do, I need to reconfigure my sprinkler heads both in placement and type of head. So then I have to go through the trouble of updating my configuration in Rachio, and there aren’t any views to easily help me see how my changes are going impact watering that zone. I have to click through a number of screens to finally see the upcoming waterings.

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I’m sure you know this, but when you click on a Zone, then click on the Soil Moisture % for the zone, it shows you the Depletion graph (Field Capacity) and below it a table of how the value is calculated. The table has a line for Irrigation and shows how much water /was/ applied in the past, and how much water it estimates /will/ be applied for the next 2 weeks, for each day. I apologize if I’ve misunderstood your question or problem.

You are understanding my request correctly. I also appreciate your response.

I am aware of that view, and it shows the amount of water that will be provided (irrigation and precipitation), but it doesn’t show me how long the zone will run for I know I can click day-by-day through the calendar view on the home screen as well, but that is very tedious.

It would be nice to have a list view or calendar view for each zone, just as it appears in other areas. This would make it really easy at a glance to see your upcoming waterings, by zone.

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Not on the same screen, but if you click on your schedule and then on watering durations you can see how long each zone is going to water.

I understand there are screens on the web and in the app that will show me run times, but those seem to be at a schedule level. When looking at the watering times within a Schedule, it doesn’t show frequency though, just that the zone will likely run for x minutes (which will also change if weather or other factors change) each time it runs. This is also painful because when editing a Zone, I then need to bounce out and over to schedules, into the schedule, then into the watering duration section… that’s a lot of clicks to see basic information.

Here’s a scenario:
8 zones
Various zone types (grass, shrubs, trees, etc.)

If I setup a flex daily schedule, each zone will of course water independently as necessary. This will result in zones with trees only watering every 7-14 days, shrubs every 6-10 days, and grass every 2-4 days. (at least in my area of the US)

When I make modifications to my zones (size, sprinkler head location, number or type of sprinkler heads, etc.), I need to navigate through a number of screens to understand how my changes will be reflected in watering schedules.

I can of course see the calendar view under the Schedule I have setup, but this will require me to click each day individually to see what zones are going water and what duration. This is tedious. As @rraisley pointed out, I can also go into the Zone and see the Field Capacity and a table of water application (in inches). Neither of these are great options to see your zones schedule (historical and future).

I’m just looking for a complete view of a zone, right from the zone’s “home” screen. Right now the zone “home” screen shows “Soil Moisture”, “In Schedules” (the schedules this zone is included within), “Usage to Date” (month to date). It would be nice to add “Upcoming Waterings” to the list, and show the next x waterings, with the caveat this can of course change due to weather or other factors.

Even better would be a before and after in the Zone editing section. It would be sweet to see before (your zone waters every x days for x minutes) and after (your zone will water for x minutes longer and the frequency will increase by x days).

BTW, this only works once you have a SCHEDULE for the zone(s) you want to examine. Plus, I’m working with a Flex schedule; it may be different with others.

If all you’re looking for (and it’s something I look for a lot, so may be) is how much water will be applied and how frequently, you can actually get that right from the Soil Moisture screen (one click after selecting the zone). You’re basically looking for two things: On the table under the graph, find the largest value, in inches, Irrigation, on days in the future (past shows you what it did previously, for reference). Some days will have a smaller irrigation value, like when you have rain, etc., but within the next couple weeks almost certainly you will see the one maximum value. That value will also be equal to:

Available Water in/in x Root Depth x Allowable Depletion (normally 50%)

A typical value might be: 0.17 x 8 x 0.50 = 0.68" of water.

Regardless of other settings, that will be the maximum, and normal without rain, etc., for Rachio to apply at one time.

That gives you how much water will be applied. Now you need to know how often. Well, that will vary throughout the year, but it is based on your ET or Crop Evapotranspiration. That will depend on your location (temperature), crop type and other things, but it’s also listed on the table. It will vary depending on temperature and such during the week. I’m in sunny (hot) South Carolina, and for this week my ET values vary between 0.18 to 0.21. Yours will be lower if you’re (hopefully) in a cooler area of the country. To find the /average/ frequency, simply divide inches or water (as calculated above) by ET. Using 0.2:

Frequency = Inches / ET = 0.68 / 0.20 = 3.4 days. With no rain or other water available, and at this temperature, Rachio will water every 3.4 days, on average. Of course, it can’t space watering every x.4 days, so you’d see something like 3 days, 4 days, 3 days, 4 days, 3 days, 3 days… averaging out 3.4 days. But you’ll probably get some rain in between there, which will make it wait longer to water. And it will also vary as your temperature goes up and down. By Fall, the ET might only be 0.10 instead of 0.20, meaning it will water only half as often, about every 6.8 days.

At first, before I figured out the above, I made spreadsheets with the exact minutes of water application every day for every zone, spread out over 2 weeks, and graphed daily and total water applied. The above is easier and more accurate. :wink:

Hope this helps.

I appreciate all of the education @rraisley, you are definitely a knowledgeable resource. Thank you for taking all of the time to help me understand how the system works.

My request for this feature is really just an improvement to the UI, not suggesting that the platform or the clients don’t have a way to view this. Right now that information is somewhat buried, and I’m suggesting they modify their UI to make the information more accessible. I can think of quite a few instances where seeing your upcoming waterings more clearly could help.

This is a great community at Rachio!

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