Valve Schedule
Quick video
- Valve Schedule Overview
- Pressure Reducing Valves
- Colorize Zones
- Precipitation Rate Calculation
- Limiting the Valve Schedule Using Work Areas or POCs
- Critical Analysis
- Valve Schedules and Slope Areas
- Change Valve Schedule Column Widths
- Valve Schedule Logic Rules
- Related Webinars
- Troubleshooting
The Valve Schedule tool will give you a list of information about the valves (or stations) used in the design, the types of heads connected to them, their size, flow, pressure required at the valve and at the POC, and the precipitation rate of the heads on that valve.
You may want to generate a valve schedule for only a specific portion of a drawing, such as an area or phase of your project. In these cases, you can limit the valve schedule with the help of work areas. For more information, see our Work Areas and Irrigation Schedules page.
Valve Schedule Overview
The Valve Schedule will now list pipe caps you've added to your project from our library of auxiliary equipment.
Open the Valve Schedule tool:
F/X Irrigation ribbon, Valve Schedule flyout
F/X Irrigation menu, Valve Schedule option
or type ValveSchedule in the Command line
The Valve Schedule dialog box will open.
1. Destination:
- Drawing: Place the schedule directly in the drawing.
- Table: Place the schedule in the drawing in table form, with valves separated by lines.
- Spreadsheet: Send the schedule to a spreadsheet program, such as MS Excel.
2. Columns:
Select which columns you want in your Valve Schedule. We've added lots! Select any or all of the following options to add a column to your Valve Schedule that displays the relevant information for that option as it relates to each valve in your design.
- Number of heads: The number of heads connected to each valve. This column will also list the length of dripline in your design.
- Organize the schedule by:
- Length of pipe: The length of pipe connected to each valve
- Pipe by size: Pipe diameter
- Wire lengths: Wiring calculations will start at the controller, then look for the closest mainline segment. From there, it will find the shortest path to each valve. The common wire length is the total length of all mainline, plus the distance to the controller. Don't have a controller? Uncheck this option to omit the Wire column from your schedule.
- Design pressure: The pressure you set for equipment when adding it to your project. The equipment will operate at this rate of pressure. The design pressure will be expressed in the schedule in your chosen units (example: PSI).
- Friction loss: The pressure loss through the laterals specifically. When sizing each valve, the system will take the flows per pipe section and velocity that is being used (applying the Hazen-Williams formula and pipe chart data).
- Valve loss: The pressure loss based on the valve type and the flow assigned to the valve.
- Pressure required: The total pressure required at the valve, including the design pressure, friction loss, and valve loss. Will be expressed in the schedule in your chosen units (example: Design PSI).
- Pressure required at POC: The total pressure required at the point of connection (POC), including the total pressure required at the valve, mainline/fitting losses, loss through the meter, backflow, and any other equipment. Will be expressed in the schedule in your chosen units (example: PSI @ POC).
- Elevations: With this option selected, the Valve Schedule will include the elevations of the valves on your irrigation system's lateral pipes.
- Precipitation Rate: This rate calculation assumes that neither perfect triangle, nor square, head spacing will be achieved as if in a lab, and calculates the average precip rate across the zone as the heads were laid out. Will be listed in a Precip column if selected.
3. Colorize Zones: Each valve and all attached lateral pipe and heads will be highlighted with a color for as-built or other communication. (See Colorize Zones below.)
An example of the schedule generated with the settings configured as pictured above will look like the following:
Important:
- The Model, Size, and Type columns list information about the heads connected to a valve number in your project. These columns will appear automatically. You can choose to delete them if you send your schedule to a spreadsheet – for example, if you only plan to use one model, size, and/or type of head in your project.
- The GPM column in this example is showing the total flow for what is connected to each valve. The name of this column will depend on your chosen flow units.
Locating and Investigating a Problem Valve
If one of your valves (stations) listed in the Valve Schedule appears to be problematic – for example, if it lacks the necessary pressure for your design – you can locate it quickly using our Locate Valve tool. With Locate Valve, you can select the valve you want to find and instantly zoom in for a close-up view of that valve – a valuable time-saver.
Pressure Reducing Valves
Irrigation F/X has a specific way of dealing with pressure reducing valves (PRVs). When the system sizes the mainline, it works from the solenoid valves back to the point of contact. Therefore, when it encounters a PRV, it makes note of the pressure required downstream.
When you place your Irrigation Schedule, the system will insert the pressure required downstream into the schedule for the PRV. This pressure should match the setting of the valve.
Colorize Zones
This option allows you to produce a colorized version of your irrigation design. This colorized version could be used for an as-built drawing or controller chart, or to help communicate the design intent in a meeting with the owner or contractor.
We now offer the ability to specify irrigation zones to colorize by using the Highlight Station tool. For more information, see the Colorize Irrigation Components section of our Highlight Station page.
To access the Colorize Zones tool, check the Colorize Zones box when creating a Valve Schedule.
For detailed information and instructions, see our Colorize Zones page.
Precipitation Rate Calculation
When the Valve Schedule calculates the precipitation rate, you might notice that the numbers come out differently from those in the manufacturer's catalogs.
The PRECIP column lists the precipitation rate for each component.
Manufacturers' catalogs have two different numbers, one for perfect Triangular spacing, and one for perfect Square spacing. As we all know, the world is not perfect, and heads are rarely laid out in laboratory conditions. The system calculates the average precip rate across the zone as the heads were laid out.
But what if the Precip Rate in the Valve Schedule isn't even close to the listing in the manufacturer's catalog? It could just mean you have only half the heads on the zone – for instance, just one side of strip sprays. You can always select the Spreadsheet option in the Destination area when creating the schedule. This will send the schedule to Excel, where you can edit the Precip Rates to manufacturer values.
Limiting the Valve Schedule Using Work Areas or Points of Connection (POCs)
You may want to generate a valve schedule for only a specific portion of a drawing, such as an area or phase of your project. In these cases, you can limit the valve schedule with the help of work areas. For more information, see our Work Areas and Irrigation Schedules documentation. For instructions on creating a Work Area, see our Work Areas documentation.
For projects that include more than one point of connection (POC), you can also create a Valve Schedule that only includes equipment that is connected to a given POC. For more information, see our Limiting Irrigation Schedules to a Specific POC documentation.
Critical Analysis
Critical Analysis is a report placed into your drawing that gives you the same information that was displayed after sizing the mainline. The Critical Analysis will list the POC number, the Flow Available, the Pressure Available, and a Design Analysis of the Maximum Station Flow, with the Residual (or leftover) Flow, the pressure loss to provide the Critical Station (most demanding valve), and the Residual (leftover) Pressure.
For more information, see our Critical Analysis documentation.
Valve Schedules and Slope Areas
Slope Areas work with our Slope Callout tool to apply a specific grade percentage or ratio to a closed polyline area in your drawing. Objects represented by any smart hatches within those closed polylines (Slope Areas) will have their quantity, volume, or area recalculated based on that slope percentage or ratio.
If you run a Valve Schedule in a drawing that includes one or more Slope Areas, the schedule will scan all Schematic Irrigation areas, Areas for Dripline to determine whether they are inside a Slope Area. If so, the schedule will recalculate the square footage/meters of those areas, along with any resulting changes in equipment quantity and flow rate.
Change Valve Schedule Column Widths
You can easily change the widths of your Valve Schedule columns using the AutoCAD Block Editor. However, you can only adjust the column widths of a schedule you've placed as a table.
Want the freedom to adjust your schedule column widths manually, but don't want visible table borders in your schedule? Follow our steps to create a table-style schedule without lines.
Valve Schedule Logic Rules
Currently, the sorting for the Valve and Watering schedules supports the following rules for sorting, suggesting the next value, and renumbering:
- . or - used as dividers (so “A-99”, “B7.2” etc, and not “A/01” or “B,3” etc.)
- Up to three logical valve number groups: the prefix, the number, and the suffix
- Up to 2 characters, and up to 3 numbers for any of these items, as in:
- A-100.2 — prefix A, number 100, suffix 2
- AA-99.B – prefix AA, number 99, suffix B
- 9A – no prefix, number 9, and suffix A
Related Webinars
- Irrigation for Beginners: We'll show how to navigate through the Irrigation ribbon and build a familiarity with our conceptual-level tools. You'll also learn the basics of adding equipment to a project, placing, piping, sizing, and scheduling. (1 hr 45 min)
- Understanding Irrigation Calculations: Join us for a deep dive into exactly what our software is doing when sizing your irrigation design. We'll cover where losses occur in different types of equipment, which schedules are available to help you analyze your system, and how to make the proper adjustments for a successful final product. (1 hr 12 min)
- Understanding Pressure and Flow: Learn the differences between static and dynamic pressure, how specific equipment types affect that pressure, how flow affects pipe sizing, and what to consider when dealing with pressure issues both before and after installation. (1 hr 4 min)
- Excel With The Right Tools: No matter how much you can accomplish in AutoCAD, sometimes MS Excel can do the job better. We’ll give you some examples of how Excel can improve your design process by adding everything from shade analysis reports to MAWA calculations and in-depth watering schedules. (1 hr 5 min)
Troubleshooting
Issue: Wire lengths are blank in the valve schedule
Issue: Your Valve Schedule shows two identical zones that have different precipitation rates
Having another issue with irrigation schedules, including valve, runtime, and watering schedules? See our Irrigation Schedules Troubleshooting section.
Contact
- Land F/X
Our software tailors AutoCAD® to the needs of landscape architects, irrigation designers, and other professionals. We automate your most tedious tasks and ensure accuracy, giving you more time to design.