Many bowling green irrigation systems were installed to provide occasional supplementary watering rather than to replace tens of thousands of litres every week through an extended drought. Tank capacity, mains refill rate, pump output and sprinkler efficiency all become limiting factors. A typical perimeter system with one sprinkler position on each side of the green may require roughly two minutes of operation at each position to apply an average depth of 1mm. The precise figure should always be established using catch cans, because the quoted output of the sprinkler is less important than what actually reaches the surface.
