Case Study: Toro Irrigation, Irrigation Nozzles, Precision Spray Nozzles
Toro Precision Series irrigation nozzle spraying
Key features
- 1” per hour matched precipitation rate, even after 20% radius reduction
- Improved spray uniformity so customers don’t need to increase run times, despite lower precipitation rate
- No moving parts for reliable long-term performance
- Good, consistent droplet size and velocity for resistance against wind drift and misting
An irrigation nozzle that saves water while keeping lawns lush and green
The Toro Company is a global provider of outdoor maintenance and irrigation products. Already a major player in the turf irrigation industry, Toro partnered with Bowles Fluidics to reinvent the irrigation nozzle and grow their sales with a new and innovative premium product line.
Challenge
High precipitation rate (the rate at which water is applied to landscape) means runoff and wasted water. Traditional fixed spray nozzles need high precipitation rates to throw a given radius. Rotors provide very low precipitation rates, but require moving parts in complex assemblies, and are limited to larger areas.
Uniformity is the other key to water savings. A non-uniform spray will flood parts of a lawn while leaving dry spots elsewhere, causing brown stressed areas on your lawn.
Toro envisioned a simple, inexpensive fixed-spray nozzle that would provide an extremely uniform spray at a low precipitation rate.
Solution
Oscillating fluidic streams provide the performance of a rotor with the small packaging and simplicity of a fixed spray. Bowles and Toro created a full line of Precision™ Series Spray nozzles capable of delivering low flow rates at high uniformity—meaning that you use less water to keep your lawn just as green. In fact, the new nozzles use about 1/3 less water than the competition, and have one-for-one drop-in replacement of existing nozzles without any adjustment to the system or spray times.
In addition to increased performance, Precision™ Spray Nozzles come with all the features Toro’s customers expect:
- 60 to 360° arcs, 5 to 15’ radius, and specialty rectangular spray patterns
- Retrofits into existing systems, both male and female
- Integrated, pre-assembled filter prevents clogging and makes for easy assembly into the riser.
With its introduction, the Toro Precision™ Series Spray Nozzles have received many accolades from consumers and industry, including the 2008 Irrigation Association (IA) New Product of the Year for Turf/Landscape award.
Praise for Toro's Precision Series Nozzles:
"We insure that our research is unbiased when we make tests. We have seen a uniformity coefficient greater than 80% on the Precision Spray Nozzles, which we've never had on square spacing."
Bernd Lainauer
Professor and Turf Grass Extension Specialist
New Mexico State University
"The Precision Series Spray Nozzle is sort of like the Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulb of water savings. You just remove the old style nozzle, screw on a Precision Spray Nozzle, and save 25-30% more water instantly."
Bryan McDonald
Vice President
Whitmore Landscape Management
Euless, TX
Links
Toro Precision Series Overview (no flash)
More information
Contact Dr. Sri Sridhara at ssridhara@bowlesfluidics.com or (410) 381-0400 x 273
