Drip, sprinkler or rain gun: how to choose.
No single system suits every site. In a garden or an estate the choice is usually sprays or rotors for the lawns and drip for the beds and trees, often on the same controller. On a farm it depends on the crop, the soil, the water quality, the pressure and the labour you have.
How they differ
| System | How it waters | Usually suits | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drip | Slowly, at the root zone of each plant or row | Shrub and flower beds, hedges, trees, row crops, greenhouses and bags | Needs good filtration, or the emitters block |
| Sprinkler | Sprays water over the ground like rain: pop-up sprays for small lawns, rotors for large ones | Lawns, sports turf, ground cover and closely spaced crops | Wind and heat carry some water away; sprays and rotors need their own valves, or parts of the lawn get too much or too little |
| Rain gun | Throws a large jet over a wide circle | Large open fields with tough crops; not gardens | Needs high pressure and pumping power, and large drops can harm young seedlings |
Indicative efficiency
Field application efficiency is the share of the water applied that the plants can use. These ranges assume good design and management.
| System | Indicative range |
|---|---|
| Surface or flood | 40 to 70 percent |
| Solid-set sprinkler | 60 to 85 percent |
| Drip and micro-irrigation | 80 to 90 percent or more |
Source: FAO (1989), Irrigation Water Management Training Manual No. 4, Annex I; USDA-NRCS (1997), National Engineering Handbook Part 652, Chapter 6, Table 6-4. These are indicative ranges for good design and management, not guarantees.
How sprinklers overlap
- A sprinkler
- Where the water from neighbouring sprinklers overlaps
- The buried pipe that feeds them
A rain gun, close up
Photo: Nelson Irrigation's own catalogue. Trademarks belong to their owners; no partnership is implied.
Questions that decide it
- What do you water: lawns, beds, trees or a crop, and how far apart are the plants?
- How clean is the water, and can it be filtered?
- What pressure can your pump supply?
- How windy and hot is the site in the dry season?
- Are there paths, walls, windows or seating the spray must not reach?
- Who will run and maintain the system?
See landscape irrigationSee farm irrigation
Not sure which fits your site?
Send the type of site or crop, the area and the water source through the form, or on WhatsApp, and we will recommend a method.