How long should you water your garden for?

With strict water restrictions in place in Perth during the warmer months, you may be unsure about how long to leave your sprinklers on for to ensure your garden is getting the water it needs.

Ensuring your system is using the correct watering rate can save you money and water in the long run.

Thanks to the Water Corporation, you can use this guide to find the recommended run times for watering your garden, depending on which sprinklers you have.

Pop-up/fixed spray

• Typical watering rate (per hour): 35–45mm
• Recommended run time for 10mm (standard drink): 13–16 minutes
• Recommended reduced run time: 10 minutes

Rotary

• Typical watering rate (per hour): 10–15mm
• Recommended run time for 10mm (standard drink): 40–60 minutes
• Recommended reduced run time: 30–40 minutes

Gear drive rotator

• Typical watering rate (per hour): 10–20mm
• Recommended run time for 10mm (standard drink): 30–40 minutes
• Recommended reduced run time: 25–30 minutes

Dripline

• Typical watering rate (per hour): 15–20mm
• Recommended run time for 10mm (standard drink): 30–40 minutes
• Recommended reduced run time: 20–30 minutes

As the seasons change, so do the water needs of your lawn and garden. The table below shows the adjustments that should be made to your irrigation controllers 'Seasonal Adjustment' setting to avoid over watering.

No matter what the season, your controller should always be turned off when it's raining.

• January–February - 100%
• March - 80%
• April - 60%
• May - Manual operation of the controller as necessary
• June–August - System turned off (winter sprinkler ban)
• September - Manual operation of controller as necessary
• October - 60%
• November - 80%
• December - 90%

* A permanent winter sprinkler ban applies to scheme and bore water users in Perth, Mandurah and parts of the South West and Great Southern regions between 1 June and 31 August each year.