ICC and ASABE Announce New Landscape Irrigation Sprinkler Standard

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 The International Code Council (ICC) and the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) announce the release of a new ANSI consensus standard to classify sprinkler and drip irrigation systems, set uniform testing procedures and establish minimum design and performance requirements for commercial and residential landscape irrigation components. 
 
The ASABE/ICC 802-2014 Landscape Irrigation Sprinkler and Emitter Standard represents collaboration among a wide range of industry stakeholders, including representatives from major manufacturers, the U.S. EPA WaterSense Program, the Irrigation Association, the Alliance for Water Efficiency, major water utilities, landscape architects, regulators and academia. Timothy Malooly, president of Water in Motion, Inc., chaired the collaborative standard development team and Brent Q. Mecham, industry development director from the Irrigation Association, was vice chair.

The standard specifically defines and categorizes various types of devices, including sprays, rotors, multi-stream/multi-trajectory nozzles, bubblers, drip emitters and microsprays. It also addresses standardized test procedures for common test parameters including flow rate, distance of throw and uniformity.

Other standard highlights include:

  • Burst pressure test procedures and minimum requirements
  • Distribution uniformity calculation methods based on various spacing types
  • Minimum requirements for integral pressure regulation
  • New test procedures for missing or damaged nozzles
  • New test procedures for drip emitters and microsprays coordinated with the ISO 9261 standard
  • New provisions for the communication of product performance data

The new standard is also cited by the U.S. EPA WaterSense program in the WaterSense Notice of Intent (NOI) to develop a Draft Specification for Landscape Irrigation Sprinklers, dated May 22, 2014.  

For more information, see www.epa.gov/watersense/products/irrigation_sprinklers.html. A number of other organizations and jurisdictions are also evaluating the document as a way to improve minimum standards of installed landscape irrigation systems.

The ASABE/ICC 802-2014 Landscape Irrigation Sprinkler and Emitter Standard is available in the ICC Online Store.