Dear customer,
Netro uses the area and depth flow rate(inch/hour) to calculate the water usage is that when the sprinkler system is professionally designed and installed, the zone is usually covered evenly, which means the large the zone is, the more sprinkler heads it needs. So the equation we use is
Area(inch^2) x depth flow rate (inch/hour) x time (hour) = water usage(inch^3)
Here are some typical flow rate:
MISTER: 2 inch/hour
FIX_SPRAY_HEAD: 1.5 inch/hour
BUBBLER/ROTOR_HEAD: 1.0 inch/hour
ROTARY_NOZZLE: 0.7 inch/hour
ROTARY_EMITTER: 0.5 inch/hour
If you switched from spray to drip irrigation, it does decrease the water usage.
Thanks,
Wency
Netro Support
Here are some details of how saving water is calculated:
To calculate the saved water, we have a reference model for watering usage without Netro. The model basically water same amount every day, based on the weather history in your area in the past 30 years. Netro uses a burst way for watering, not equally watering every day. For example, the reference model could water you yard 10 minutes every day, Netro could water 35 minutes every four day. So you save 10 minutes' water for the first 3 days, and -25 for the forth day. So eventually you will see 30 minutes' saving, which is large, on the third day, but will be adjusted to 5 minutes' saving on the fourth day.
We know the reference model could be problematic, not suitable for every one. There is large space for us to improve, and we are working on it.
Thanks,
Wency