The Internet Sprinkler Project

The lawn irrigation system at my house has always been only marginally acceptable. The plumbing has been plagued with leaks, the sprinkler heads don't perform particularly well and the system puts a lot of water on the non-lawn areas. Like most residential systems, it had a "dumb" timer with a dismal user interface that required a trip to the garage to make control changes. The leaks were resolved a few years back when I installed a master valve (i.e., now it only leaks when you're trying to water the lawn anyway), but the controls were still annoying.

The Rainbird ISA 408 was probably cutting edge technology in 1994 when this system was installed, but I knew I could do better. I considered several network connected controllers and finally settled on the Irrigation Caddy S1 because it is the right price and doesn't depend on an outside "service" for scheduling. It's easy to use as is and can also be integrated into my uber home control scheme. And, of course, it is network connected!

After installing the Irrigation Caddy, I worked on some long standing control wiring issues -- OK, I buried the wire that was running across the yard, the one that kept getting run over by the lawn mower. In the process, I "found" the supply side water line to one of my zone valves with my trenching spade. Spade 1, PVC pipe 0. Tami was particularly impressed with the large but very neat hole I dug to repair the damage... But, I digress. After putting everything back right again, I proudly told my neighbor Bruce about "The Internet Sprinkler Project". His response was simply and predictably, "John, you're such a geek."

As the great philospher Popeye the Sailor said, "I yam what I yam and that's all what I yam!"