Programming Your Sprinkler Controller for Fort Worth’s Watering Days

Most sprinkler controllers can do far more than they are asked to, and most are programmed once and never touched again. In Fort Worth, that can mean watering on the wrong days, at the wrong times, or much more than the lawn needs. This article explains how to set a controller for Fort Worth’s watering rules and how to adjust it through the year.

Fort Worth’s Watering Rules

Fort Worth has year-round outdoor watering rules for irrigation systems and sprinklers:

• Residential addresses ending in 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8 may water on Wednesday and Saturday.
• Residential addresses ending in 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9 may water on Thursday and Sunday.
• Non-residential sites such as apartments, businesses, parks and common areas may water on Tuesday and Friday.
• No irrigation on Monday.
• No irrigation between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on any day.
• No watering during rain, and no water waste from runoff or broken heads.

Hand watering with a hose, drip irrigation and soaker hoses are treated differently. Our guide to Fort Worth’s watering schedule covers the full rules, and our article on hand watering, drip and soaker hoses explains the exceptions.

Controller Basics

Most residential controllers use the same building blocks:

• Programs (often labeled A, B, C): each program has its own watering days and start times.
• Watering days: which days of the week a program runs.
• Start times: when a program begins. One start time runs every zone in the program once, in order.
• Run times: how many minutes each zone runs.
• Seasonal adjust: a setting that raises or lowers all run times at once.
• Rain delay and sensor: settings that pause watering during or after rain.

A common mistake is setting a start time for each zone. On most controllers, you only need one start time per cycle. The controller runs zone 1, then zone 2, and so on. Setting eight start times on an eight-zone controller can make the whole system run eight times.

Step 1: Clear the Old Program

If you inherited the controller or are not sure what is set, review each program. Look at every start time slot in every program. Delete any you do not need. Many controllers have a reset option, but it may also clear the date and time, so check the manual first.

Step 2: Set the Date and Time

Make sure the clock is correct, including AM and PM. A controller that is off by twelve hours will water in the afternoon, which is not allowed.

Step 3: Set Your Watering Days

Choose the days that match your address. For an even-numbered house, select Wednesday and Saturday. For an odd-numbered house, select Thursday and Sunday. Leave all other days off.

Step 4: Set Start Times

Pick a start time that lets every zone finish before 10 a.m. Add up the run times for all zones in the program. If they total 90 minutes and you start at 5 a.m., the system will finish by 6:30 a.m.

Early morning is usually the best time. Wind is usually lower, less water evaporates, and the grass dries during the day, which helps limit fungus. Evening watering after 6 p.m. is allowed, but grass that stays wet overnight is more prone to disease.

If you use cycle and soak to reduce runoff, you may use two or three start times, spaced so the zones can soak between runs. Our guide to cycle and soak scheduling explains how.

Step 5: Set Run Times

Run times depend on the head type, the soil and the season. Rotors need longer run times than spray heads. Our guide on how long to run each zone covers how to estimate and test run times.

Step 6: Separate Beds From Lawn

If you have drip zones or bed zones, put them in their own program with their own run times. Drip zones typically need much longer run times than spray zones.

Step 7: Check the Rain and Freeze Sensor

Make sure the sensor switch on the controller is set to active, not bypass. Fort Worth requires rain and freeze sensors on residential systems installed on or after June 1, 2007. See our article on rain and freeze sensors.

Adjusting Through the Year

Fort Worth lawns need much less water in cool months than in summer. Rather than rewriting every run time, use the seasonal adjust feature:

• Lower it in spring and fall.
• Raise it in the hottest part of summer.
• Lower it sharply, or turn the system off, in winter when grass is dormant.

The watering days stay the same all year; only the amount changes. Dormant grass in January needs only a small fraction of what it needs in August.

Smart Controllers

Smart controllers adjust run times based on weather data. They still need to be set to your assigned days. Fort Worth notes that all customers must water only on their designated days, even with smart technology. See our article on smart sprinkler controllers.

Common Programming Mistakes

• Multiple start times that make zones run several times
• Two programs that include the same zones
• Seasonal adjust left high after summer
• Watering days that do not match the address
• Clock set to the wrong AM or PM
• Rain sensor set to bypass

When to Call a Technician

If the controller is confusing, acting erratically or will not hold a program, our sprinkler repair service can program, repair or replace it.