Baseline Systems BaseStation 3200 - Manual (Page 14)

I n t r o d u c t i o n
Page 12
Baseline 3200
As you can see from the tables above, most sprinkler heads have higher precipitation rates than
most soils.

Soak Cycling breaks the total run time into shorter water “cycles” with
“soak” periods in between to allow time for water to soak into the soil.
When the irrigation schedule puts down more water than the soil can take up, the excess water
will typically run off to the lowest point, leaving some areas of the landscape, or even the entire
irrigated landscape, under watered. Standing water also evaporates at a fairly high rate,
especially in the heat of the summer months, further reducing irrigation efficiency.
Even on a perfectly designed system, it is important to match the water application rate to the
infiltration rate of your soil. This is typically accomplished by breaking a total run-time for any
Zone into multiple “cycles” (timed water applications) and “soaks” (timed wait periods for the
water applied in the last cycle to infiltrate into the soil before applying more water).
The BaseStation 3200 has built-in support for soak cycling, and has intelligent watering
algorithms that apply cycles in the optimal order to maximize water penetration and minimize
evaporation loss.

Soak Cycling is required on all soil moisture based Zones or Schedule
Groups in order to insure that the applied irrigation water is penetrating
appropriately to the moisture sensor.
Baseline recommends as a rule-of-thumb that the total run time for any zone be broken into at
least 3 cycles, and that the soak time between cycles be at least twice the length of the cycle
time.

One easy way to determine good cycle times is to turn a zone on and
watch for first signs of standing water or runoff. Set the cycle time to be
no more than this amount of time.
Properly setting soak and cycle times will dramatically improve water penetration and watering
efficiency.
Distribution Uniformity
Distribution Uniformity (DU) refers to how evenly water is applied over the area in a particular
zone or landscape. This is generally driven by the choice of heads (spray, rotor, multi-stream,
etc.) and the irrigation design.
Sadly, it is very common that distribution uniformity is fairly low in real-world irrigated
landscapes. This is due to many factors beyond the scope of this manual, but it is important to
note that system problems such as uneven coverage will limit the effectiveness of smart
watering strategies.
Baseline’s experience is that high-uniformity systems can be built from nearly any head type, as
long as it is properly designed, installed and maintained.

The BaseStation 3200 controller can compensate for but cannot solve
distribution uniformity problems.
As you intelligently reduce water applied to any zone, you may notice stressed areas or “brown
spots” in your landscape. When this happens, you should first adjust your heads to make
coverage as even as possible. In extreme cases it may be advantageous to retrofit older heads
with new types of heads such as multi-stream rotors that apply water more evenly.