Choosing the Right Products for Your Sprinkler System

So far in this series, you've learned why planning matters, how to size your system based on water availability, what pipe material to choose, how to draw your property layout, and how to evaluate your soil and drainage. Now comes the fun part—picking out the actual equipment that will make your irrigation system work!

Your sprinkler system has four main parts. The controller tells everything when to run. Valves control water flow to each zone. Fittings connect your pipes to valves and sprinklers. And the sprinkler heads actually deliver water to your yard. Let's walk through each piece so you know what to look for.

Controllers: The Brain of Your System

Your controller is like the command center. It tells each zone when to turn on and off, and for how long. You have two main choices: smart controllers or traditional timers (aka clocks).

Smart Controllers (B-hyve)

Smart controllers use Wi-Fi to connect to the internet. The B-hyve system checks the weather forecast multiple times a day and automatically adjusts your watering schedule. If rain is coming, it skips watering. If it's been hot and dry, it waters a bit longer.

Here's what makes smart controllers great:

• Control your system from your phone, even when you're on vacation
• Save water (and money) by not watering when it's not needed
• Get alerts if something goes wrong
• Easy to adjust schedules without standing at the controller

B-hyve controllers come in different sizes. You'll need one station (also called a zone) for each valve in your system. Most homes need between 4 and 12 stations, and residential B-hyve controllers have between 4 and 16 stations. The controller mounts in your garage or on a house wall and connects to a standard electrical outlet.

Traditional Controllers

Traditional controllers run on a fixed schedule that you program. They're battery-powered or plug into an outlet. You set the days of the week, start times, and how long each zone runs. That schedule repeats every week until you manually change it.

Traditional controllers work fine, but you'll need to remember to adjust them as seasons change. In summer, your lawn needs more water than in spring or fall.

Our recommendation? Go with a smart controller like B-hyve. Yes, it costs a bit more upfront, but it pays for itself through water savings. Plus, the convenience of phone control means you'll actually adjust your watering as needed. Many water districts offer rebates on smart controllers—visit https://www.orbitonline.com/pages/rebate-center to see if your area has rebates available.

Valves: Your System's Water Switches

Valves control the water flow to each zone. When the controller sends a signal, the valve opens and water flows to that zone's sprinkler heads. When the time is up, the valve closes.

Most irrigation valves run on 24-volt power from the controller. Here are the main types:

Jar-Top Valves

Jar-top valves are the easiest to maintain. The top unscrews like a jar lid, giving you quick access to the inside parts if you ever need to clean or replace anything. They're perfect for first-time installers because they're simple to work with.

L-Series Valves

L-series valves are Orbit's current standard valve. They have a lid held down with four screws. Inside, there's a small filter that catches debris and helps keep the valve working smoothly. These valves thread onto standard PVC fittings or use the valve manifold system for a professional install.

Anti-Siphon Valves

Anti-siphon valves have a built-in backflow preventer on top. They protect your home's drinking water from contamination. These valves must be installed above ground, at least 6 inches higher than the tallest sprinkler head they control. You'll often see them on risers near flower beds or in other visible spots.

Valve Manifolds

Instead of scattering individual valves around your yard, most DIY systems use a valve manifold. This is a group of valves connected together in one location. Orbit makes pre-assembled manifolds with 1, 2, 3, or 4 valves already connected and ready to install.

Why use a manifold? It makes maintenance easier. All your valves are in one spot, usually in a rectangular valve box in your yard. If you need to adjust or fix a valve, you know exactly where to find it.

Valve Boxes

Valve boxes are the plastic covers that protect your valves underground. They come in different sizes to fit your valve manifold. A standard rectangular box fits up to four valves. The box sits flush with the ground and has a removable lid for easy access.

Always put your valve manifold in a valve box. It protects the valves from damage, keeps dirt out, and makes future maintenance much easier.

Fittings: Connecting Your Pipes

Fittings connect your pipes to valves, sprinkler heads, and each other. Orbit offers three main types, depending on what kind of pipe you're using.

PVC-Lock Fittings

PVC-Lock fittings work with rigid PVC pipe. They use a push-to-connect design with internal teeth that grip the pipe. You push the pipe into the fitting until you feel it click—no glue needed! This makes installation much faster than traditional PVC cement. Plus, they rotate on the pipe and are removable with a removal tool.

PVC-Lock fittings are great for the constant pressure parts of your system, like the main line (the pipes from your house or point of connection to your valve manifold).

Blu-Lock Fittings

Blu-Lock fittings connect to polyethylene (aka HDPE or Poly) pipe. Like PVC-Lock, they're push-to-connect. The stainless-steel retaining ring grips the pipe from the outside, creating a watertight seal.

Blu-Lock is perfect for lateral lines—the pipes that run from your valves to your sprinkler heads. The flexible pipe is easier to work with in tight spaces, and you can remove and reuse the fittings if you need to make changes later.

Drip-Lock Fittings

Drip-Lock fittings connect drip irrigation tubing. They work with the 17mm, or .700-inch tubing used in drip systems. These fittings make it easy to build a drip zone without special tools.

Which should you use? Most DIY systems combine all three. Use PVC-Lock for rigid main lines, Blu-Lock for flexible lateral lines, and Drip-Lock if you're adding drip zones. Orbit is the only manufacturer that makes all three push-to-connect systems, giving you a complete solution from one company.

Sprinkler Heads: Delivering the Water

The sprinkler heads are what people actually see working. Different heads work better for different areas of your yard.

Gear Drive Rotors

Gear drive rotors are for larger areas like backyards and front yards. They rotate in a circle and spray water 15 to 52 feet, depending on the model. Orbit makes two main rotors:

Voyager II is a 3/4-inch rotor that throws water up to 52 feet. It has a 4-inch pop-up height that clears tall grass. The arc adjusts from 40 to 360 degrees, so you can water exactly the area you want. It uses about 3 gallons per minute at 60 PSI.

Saturn IV is a 1/2-inch rotor for medium-sized areas. It throws water up to 25 feet and also has a 4-inch pop-up. You can change the nozzles to adjust the flow rate. It's perfect for smaller backyards.

Both rotors have bottom inlet filters to keep dirt out, and you can adjust the throw distance down to 75% of maximum if needed.

Spray Heads

Spray heads are for smaller areas like side yards, park strips, and around buildings. Most pop up between 2 and 12 inches when water flows through them.

Spring-loaded pop-up spray heads come with fixed or adjustable nozzles. You can select or set the pattern from a small 25-degree wedge up to a full 360-degree circle. They typically spray water 8 to 15 feet.

Spray heads put out water faster than rotors (measured in inches per hour), so they finish watering quicker. This can be good or bad depending on your soil type. Clay soil might not absorb water fast enough, leading to runoff.

Impact Sprinklers

Impact sprinklers are the classic "tick-tick-tick" sprinklers you might remember from childhood. They use a simple mechanical design with few moving parts, making them very reliable. A weighted arm swings back and forth, creating the rotating action.

Orbit's Pulse impact sprinkler works well for large areas, throwing water 20 to 45 feet. Impact sprinklers handle dirty water better than other types because of their simple design.

Choosing the right head: Use rotors for large open areas, spray heads for smaller areas and tight spaces, and impact sprinklers where you need maximum reliability or have to deal with less-than-perfect water quality.

Drip Irrigation: Slow and Precise

Drip irrigation puts water directly at plant roots through small tubes and emitters. It's perfect for flower beds, vegetable gardens, foundation plantings, and anywhere you want to water plants individually rather than spraying an entire area.

Why Choose Drip Over Sprinklers?

Drip makes sense when:

• You have plants with different water needs close together
• You want to water plants without getting leaves wet
• The area is too small or oddly shaped for sprinklers
• You want to save water (drip is the most efficient irrigation method)
• You're watering mulched areas where sprinklers would wash away the mulch

Key Drip Components

Filters remove dirt and debris from the water before it reaches your drip emitters. The small holes in drip emitters clog easily, so a filter is essential. Most drip filters use a fine mesh screen (120-mesh is common).

Pressure Regulators reduce your home's water pressure down to the 20-30 PSI that drip systems need. Too much pressure can blow drip tubing apart or make emitters spray instead of drip.

Drip Tubing comes in two types. Distribution tubing is blank—it just carries water. You punch holes in it and insert emitters wherever you want water. Soaker tubing has tiny holes along its entire length and slowly seeps water along its path.

Emitters are the parts that actually drip water. They come in different flow rates (usually 0.5, 1, 2, or 4 gallons per hour). You choose the flow rate based on plant size and water needs.

Manifolds and Combos make drip even easier. Orbit's 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 drip valve combos include a valve, filter, pressure regulator, and tubing adapter all in one compact unit. Four of these fit side-by-side in a standard valve box.

Setting up a drip zone takes a bit more planning than sprinklers, but it's not complicated. You'll run distribution tubing through your planting beds and add emitters at each plant. Most drip systems use Drip-Lock fittings for quick, tool-free assembly.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

As you shop for components, watch out for these pitfalls:

Mixing incompatible parts. Stick with one manufacturer's system. Orbit's pipe fittings and sprinklers are designed to work together. Mixing styles of sprinklers or fittings can lead to water waste and frustration.

Under sizing your controller. Count your zones and add one or two extra stations for future expansion. It's cheaper to buy a bigger controller now than to replace it later.

Skipping valve boxes. Yes, they cost a few bucks each, but they're worth it. Protect your investment and make maintenance easy.

Using the wrong head type. Don't put spray heads in large open areas or rotors in tiny strips. Match the head to the space.

Forgetting about drip. Don't overlook drip irrigation for gardens and plant beds. It saves water and works better than spraying.

Let Orbit's Online Designer Do the Heavy Lifting

Feeling overwhelmed by all these choices? There's an easier way. Orbit's Online Sprinkler System Designer at design.orbitonline.com takes the guesswork out of product selection.

Here's how it works:

1. You upload your property drawing (remember that sketch you made earlier in this series?)
2. Add information about your water supply and pressure
3. The designer automatically selects the right products for your yard
4. You get a complete shopping list with part numbers
5. Your custom design shows exactly where each component goes

The designer picks the right controllers, valves, fittings, and sprinkler heads based on your specific property. It calculates water flow, pressure loss, and zone requirements automatically. Best of all, you get your design back in just a few hours.

You can still learn from this series and understand how irrigation works. But when it comes time to actually buy parts and install your system, let Orbit's designers handle the technical details. They've designed thousands of systems and know exactly what works.

What's Next?

Now that you know what products you need, the next post will cover the actual installation process. We'll walk through trenching, laying pipe, installing valves, and setting up your sprinkler heads. Plus, we'll share tips for making the job easier and avoiding common installation mistakes.

Remember, a good irrigation system starts with good planning and the right products. Take your time choosing components, or let Orbit's Online Designer make those choices for you. Either way, you're now ready to move from planning to action!