If you have a soggy, low point in your irrigated lawn or garden, a change of sprinkler head may solve your problem.
Sprinkler heads like the Rain Bird SAM (Seal-A-Matic™) sprinkler head are ideal for use in areas with changing elevations.
How the Rain Bird SAM Sprinkler Head works
The built-in Seal-A-Matic (SAM) check valve in the sprinkler head saves water by eliminating low head drainage from spray heads located at the base of slopes or hillsides. In other words, the head prevents water from draining out of the sprinkler pipes and pooling at the low point of the system, after the sprinkler turns itself off. The heads will trap water in lateral pipes in elevation changes of up to 14 feet. In addition to guarding against wet patches, SAM heads save water too!
Some sprinkler system installers will take elevation changes into account, and put in SAM heads where necessary during installation, and others won’t – simply dependent on budget (heads with built-in check valves do cost more). However, sometimes lawns and gardens, especially new ones, settle and/or evolve over time, and SAM heads need to be added to existing systems. Fortunately, it’s an easy retrofit, which our Service Technicians can do any time.