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June 25, 2017 By Tom & Libby Zullo

Irrigation System Over-watering

As of June 2017, the Tampa Bay area water restrictions for all counties have been rolled back to watering lawns and landscapes to once a week. At ATZ Irrigation, we recommend a Sprinkler Check-up to ensure water conservation and to keep your lawn healthy. Our Sprinkler Check-up offering will test the irrigation system for malfunctioning or faulty components, adjust sprinkler heads and determine if the sprinklers are properly delivering a uniform distribution of water and determine any over-watering problems.

Irrigation System Over-watering

When there is an abundance of frequent rainy days, a condition of too much water may occur. In this article, we will discuss over-watering by your sprinkler irrigation system. An over-watering condition affects specific areas of your landscape and can be harmful to your turfgrass, especially during a rainy period.

Irrigation system over-watering is primarily caused by the first 6 items in the list below. The first thing you should consider is having a working Rain Sensor. A correctly operating Rain Sensor can save water and prevent over-watering.

Irrigation System over-watering is caused by the following sprinkler repair issues:

  • Rain Sensor Malfunctioning or Not Installed
  • Sprinkler Heads Missing
  • Broken Sprinkler Heads
  • Programmed Duration too long per Sprinkler Zone
  • Sprinkler Heads Not Adjusted Properly
  • Broken Pipes
  • Pipe Leaks
  • Valve Leaks
  • Sprinkler Head Leaks
  • Broken Sprinkler Valves
  • Leaks under Driveway
  • Irrigation Control Timer Malfunctioning
  • Sprinkler Heads too low or too high
  • Leaky Sprinkler Head
  • Leaky Sprinkler Valves
  • Sprinkler Heads that Need Relocating

irrigation system over-watering caused by a broken sprinkler headAs your sprinkler system ages, irrigation system watering efficiency will degrade over time to a point where you are wasting water. The aging process and the damage to sprinkler components are due to nature and your lawn cutting services. Degraded watering efficiency can happen so slowly you may not be aware of it. Yes, even during frequent rain periods your sprinkler irrigation could be malfunctioning and over-watering different parts of your landscape. The effects can damage your yard or part of your lawn.

Your grass, small plants, and flowers can be getting too much watering or even be underwater.Too much watering is not good and is harmful to your landscape. Florida grass needs between 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch of water one to twice a week. Cool-season lawns need even less water and can last four or five days between watering. The Irrigation System watering and daily rain fall can easily exceed 3/4 inch of water per week. We can’t stop the rain, but we can limit or shut off the irrigation system from adding water to the total the rain fall accumulation.

If your lawn or flowerbeds are soaked with water and have puddles that stay visible after 40 minutes or more, after watering, you definitely may have an irrigation over-watering problem. Also, the other obvious sign of over-watering is the appearance of water runoff as seen on sidewalks, driveways or streets after your sprinklers have completed a watering cycle. Over-watering creates an excess flow of water that carries soil nutrients and organic material out of the yard as runoff.  Your turfgrass may be robbed of nitrogen and other vital nutrients. Due to the lack of nutrients, the grass may turn yellow or light green.

ATZ Irrigation recommends a Sprinkler Check-up to determine if your sprinkler irrigation is working correctly and if you have an over-watering problem. Call us (727) 937-7177 for quick and reliable sprinkler repair services.

Harmful Effects of Irrigation System Over-watering

Over-watering makes your lawn susceptible to pests and diseases by interfering with health and the growth of the grass. There are 4 areas of concern when comes to over-watering:

Thatch: Thatch is a layer of partially decomposed grass cutting, organic debris, roots, and runner that create a dense fabric on top of the soil. Too much watering inhibits microorganisms from a breaking down this dense fabric. As a result, the thatch becomes thicker; the turf develops a shallow root system A shallow root system is bad because the turf is less drought persistent.

As the thatch thickness exceeds an inch, less oxygen reaches the turf roots and becomes an excellent place for fungal and insect pests. Less thorough watering will reduce thatch because it encourages organic break down due to more oxygen accessibility. By eliminating over-watering the goal is to stimulate deep root development. The best time to remove thatch is early spring using a power rake or rotary mower.

Fungus: Over-watering promotes fungal growth. An obvious sign of over-watering is the growth of mushrooms in the lawn. Also, another symptom of fungal growth is unhealthy looking yellow to rust colored grass known as Anthracnose. Anthracnose infects wet grass during hot and moist weather and causes irregularly shaped patches with leaf lesions that are yellow with black centers. Grass stem and sheath can rot during moist weather in the summer. It also infects ornamental plants, click on Anthracnose Disease of Ornamental Plants to learn more.

Weeds: There are some annoying weeds that thrive and grow during over-watering conditions. The most prolific weeds are crabgrass and nutsedge that crowd out healthy grass growth during wet weather. Crabgrass can grow to 6 inches high with a root system that spreads over the soil’s surface. Nutsedge can grow to 3 feet high with an underground root system with rhizomes. Over-watering promotes these weeds to take over the yard. Remove weeds by hand and call an excellent lawn service for weed control such as Always Green

Pests Breeding Ground: Over-watered yards are water saturated through the thatch area. Thick thatch is a perfect environment for the insects to breed. Wet thatch prevents insecticides from penetrating and allows insects to populate in a protective area. Insects such as white grubs that are the larvae of June beetles will feed on grass roots, wilt the grass and eventually kill the grass. Also, armyworms and cutworms chew and cut grass blades at the base and cause irregular bare patch areas to appear in your lawn. If your landscape has areas of standing water, it will be a breeding ground for misquotes. For help with outdoor pest control call Always Green..

ATZ Irrigation is available to help you with your sprinkler repair problem and prevent irrigation system over-watering. Call us (727) 937-7177 or complete our Quick Service Form.

Filed Under: Irrigation Advice, Sprinkler Check-up Tagged With: irrigation over-watering

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ATZ Customer Reviews

Koi's World

Koi’s World

Highly recommend ATZ for all your irrigation and landscape lighting. Quick and reliable!! They were very knowledgeable and helpful making sure I understood the problems they solved. Thanks so much!

Koi's World Clearwater FL

Danielle Erlandson

Danielle Erlandson

Great company! Outstanding service! Would recommend if you are looking for an irrigation company. Very friendly staff.

Danielle Erlandson Home owner Tampa FL

Great company! Guys are friendly and know what they're doing. Will definitely recommend them to anyone needing installation and/or service for their home or business sprinkler needs.

Michelle Keeney

Great company! Guys are friendly and know what they're doing. Will definitely recommend them to anyone needing installation and/or service for their home or business sprinkler needs.

Michelle Keeney Business Owner Trinity FL

Dj Phillip Pasek

Dj Phillip Pasek

Had the best experience today with this company. We just moved in to our home in Odessa July 2016. 1st home we had with 11 zones of sprinklers. Most heads didn't work and the sod guy cut a feeder pipe yesterday which prompted my call to ATZ (the only company to that actually answered the phone). Within 12 hrs someone was here and very helpful / knowledgeable to fix the problems. He even helped me figure out the control panel. Thanks ATZ!

Dj Phillip Pasek Professional DJ / Business Owner New Tampa FL

Mia Bjorn

Mia Bjorn

I rarely give ratings but really need to hear because they did such a great job .
Quickly returned my phone call came out and gave a quote have done two jobs since then. Very pleased with their work

Mia Bjorn Business Owner Palm Harbor FL

Niko Mercuris

Niko Mercuris

I had my 5 acre estate landscaped, irrigated and the outdoor lighting done by ATZ Irrigation and it came out beautifully.
They had installed a new 2 horse power pump to my existing deep well because I was not getting enough pressure to run all 26 zones for the sprinklers, once this was done the sprinkler heads were blasting water to cover every square inch of my property, then they also installed my landscape lighting throughout the front two and a half acres of the property.
Up-lighting on the beautiful pine trees created a dramatic effect at night. it was a pleasure working with Tom and the entire crew at ATZ, they were very friendly and went above and beyond to make me happy.. I would highly recommend them!

Niko Mercuris Home owner New Port Richey FL

All Trades Roofing

All Trades Roofing

ATZ is Amazing they show up on time and ready to go. These boys really know what they're doing. Highly recommended! Very professional and great rates!

All Trades Roofing Business Owner Tampa Bay FL

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Bill Mildon

We are very pleased with our sprinkler installation from ATZ Irrigation. The install was done in a day and set up of the controller and training on it use was simple and straight forward. A few days later when one of the heads had an issue a tech was onsite within hours to remedy the issue. It has been flawless ever since. We highly recommend ATZ Irrigation to those looking for a quality system and great customer service.

Kind regards

Bill Mildon Business Owner Tarpon Springs FL

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Rhona Dalfen

Your service is wonderful and your prices are fair and I would recommend you to anyone and everyone

Sent from my iPad

Rhona Dalfen Home owner Trinity FL

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Karen Buck

ATZ Irrigation was extremely profession, knowledgeable and courteous. I will recommend them to my friends and neighbors.

Karen Buck

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Bill Weatherford

I have always had exceptional service from ATZ and would not hesitate to recommend them to any and all.

Bill Weatherford Business Owner Tarpon Springs FL

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ATZ Irrigation Inc. “Quick & Reliable” Since 1989

#1 Best in lawn sprinkler repair & lawn irrigation installation throughout Tampa Bay.


Service Areas:Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs, East Lake, Dunedin, Clearwater, Crystal Beach, Safety Harbor, Ozona, Holiday, New Port Richey, Westchase, Seven Springs, Largo, New Tampa, Carrollwood, Lutz, Tampa, Town & Country, Odessa, Land O Lakes, Port Richey, Northdale, Trinity, Citrus Park, & Belleair


ATZ Irrigation Inc.
Email: atz5232@aol.com
Office: (727) 937-7177
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