How it works
The circuit, from the well to the zone
A lot of people call asking for "a pump" when the problem is three steps further down the line. This is
the full path the water takes in an irrigation system in Mallorca, so you know what we are talking about
and where your fault actually is.
1. The source: well, cistern or mains
The water comes from a well, from a cistern or tank, or from the mains.
On a country property it is usually a well; in a house with a garden, a tank. Each source calls for a
different type of pump and different water treatment.
2. The pump and the level probe
From a well you draw with a submersible pump; from a surface tank, with a surface or
multistage pump. It always goes with a level probe or float: if the well drops and the
pump runs dry, it destroys itself in minutes. It is the most expensive failure and the easiest to avoid.
3. The cistern: storing so you do not depend on the flow
The well pump does not irrigate directly: it fills the cistern. That way the irrigation
does not depend on what the well is giving at that moment, and the pump works in bursts and at the hours
that suit — which is exactly what makes solar-powered irrigation possible.
4. The pressure set
Out of the cistern the water only has whatever pressure gravity gives it, which is hardly ever enough. The
pressure set, with its expansion vessel, provides the bar the emitters
need to open properly. If the irrigation "runs weak" or some zones pull and others do not, look here before
anywhere else.
5. Filtration (with well water, non-negotiable)
Well water carries sand and particles. Without a disc or screen filter at the head, that
sand ends up in the solenoid valves and the drippers and blocks them one after another. It is the number
one reason a new system starts failing after two summers.
6. Isolating valves, main valve and safety
Before distributing, we fit the main valve, the safety valve and the
isolating valves that let you shut off by area. That is what allows a fault to be repaired without leaving
the whole property without water.
7. The main pipework
The main distribution in PVC or polyethylene, buried, running to the boxes where the
valves sit. Properly sized: a pipe that is short on diameter is pressure lost for good.
8. The controller and the solenoid valves
The controller (the programmer) is the brain: it opens and closes each
solenoid valve by zone and at the times you set, with low-voltage wiring out to the boxes.
You irrigate in zones because hardly any system has the flow to water everything at once. Here we fit the
programmer, the wiring, surge protection and the board.
9. And from there on, the gardener
Out of each solenoid valve runs the zone line: drippers, drip pipe or sprinklers, depending
on what is planted. That part is not ours, and it is better that way: whoever looks after
the garden knows what each plant needs. We hand over the water with pressure, filtered and at the right
time.