ICC and ASABE Announce New Landscape Irrigation Sprinkler Standard

First ANSI standard to establish uniform testing procedures for key landscape and irrigation systems components

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.

“Assembly and publication of this new ANSI-accredited sampling and reporting standard for landscape irrigation sprinklers is timely,” Malooly said. “My hope is this standard will be embraced widely and the information made available by its use will result in improved decision-making when considering component products used in landscape irrigation system design, installation, maintenance and operation.”

“Because the process included a diverse group of stakeholders and allowed for public input and review, the standard should be recognized as supporting best practices for efficient irrigation in the urban environment,” Mecham said.

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

“For the first time, the industry has a standard that establishes uniform testing procedures for key components of landscape irrigation systems,” said Dominic Sims, CBO, ICC CEO. “We are confident this standard will ensure landscape irrigation professionals have access to performance information that is consistent between manufacturers to support the design of efficient, water-smart systems with greater consistency and performance.”

“ASABE is extremely happy to have lent our member and staff expertise from more than 50 years of developing irrigation standards to this combined effort with ICC and the landscape irrigation industry,” said Scott Cedarquist, ASABE Director of Standards. “The ICC staff support was outstanding and we are looking forward to continuing this relationship with them.”

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 http://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.

About the ICC: The International Code Council a member-focused association. It is dedicated to developing model codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures. Most U.S. communities and many global markets choose the International Codes.

About the ASABE: The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers is an international scientific and educational organization dedicated to the advancement of engineering applicable to
agricultural, food and biological systems. Its members have the training and experience to understand the interrelationships between technology and living systems.