Use Cases | Eve Aqua
How to plan your smart irrigation system
Mar 16, 2020 - by Ina
 
 

Irrigate the smart way – enjoy every dry summer day. 

 

Summer is finally just around the corner, and we just can’t wait to spend our sunny days relaxing in our deck chairs, BBQing on the patio and taking long breaks. But we could make even more use of the dry weather were it not for the garden and the many precious hours of sunshine we miss out on because we need to water it. 

 

It’s time to garden smarter! Convert your regular outdoor faucet into a smart water outlet for the garden. It’s quick and easy to do with Eve Aqua – promise.

 

In all the scenarios listed here, we assume you have a standard garden hose with a hose connector that you fit the regular way to your outdoor faucet. 

1. Water your lawn automatically

If you want to water your lawn automatically this summer, you’ll only need: 
 

- 1 Eve Aqua

- 1 sprinkler 

 

Take Eve Aqua and fit it to your outdoor faucet (installation video). Then set it up in the Eve app – you can now start adding a schedule right away. Irrigation will be switched on and off again at a set time – even when you’re not at home. It’s a breeze to set up schedules in the Eve app – learn how to here. Alternatively, you can do away with schedules altogether and instead use the sprinkler as and when needed via iPhone or Siri. 

 

Now all you have to do is connect one end of your hose to Eve Aqua and the other end to your sprinkler. Done. 

 

TIP: When watering your lawn, really give it a good soaking. Select a watering duration that ensures the water reaches the roots. After a few hours, use a thin wooden stick or a trowel to see how far the water has soaked down. What you’re looking for is a depth of 15-20 centimeters. The perfect time to do so is once the soil is cool to avoid the water evaporating.

2. Water your patio plants automatically

Potted plants are often exposed to a lot of sunshine, making them dry out quickly in their pots. This means even more regular watering is called for – just one weekend without water is enough to spell disaster for them when the weather’s hot. It will take around two hours to set up your automatic potted-plant irrigation system. You don’t need much: 

 

- 1 Eve Aqua

- 1 Gardena Micro-Drip Starter Set for Flower Pots

 

First fit Eve Aqua to your outdoor faucet. Once it’s installed, add your schedules right away in the Eve app for automatic irrigation. Alternatively, you can do away with schedules altogether and water your patio plants later by controlling Eve Aqua using your iPhone or Siri.

 

Connect your hose to Eve Aqua. 

 

Attach the connecting pipe to the master unit, then connect that to the hose attached to Eve Aqua. Now route the connecting pipe next to your potted plants. Run the smaller diameter supply pipe into each pot. You’ll need to branch this off from the larger diameter connecting pipe using the reducing T-joints. See here for details on how to fit the flower pot irrigation system. 

TIP: Potted plants not only dry out quickly, but they can also be over-watered really easily. If the weather does turn out to be wetter than forecast, you can pause your schedule even when away from home. To do so, you’ll need a HomePod or Apple TV set up as a home hub

3. Water your patio plants and flower beds for the same length of time

If you want to water your flower beds and potted plants automatically, you can use a similar set up to the one listed under point 2 above. You’ll need: 

 

- 1 Eve Aqua 

- 1 Gardena Micro-Drip Starter Set for Planted Areas

- 1 Gardena Micro-Drip Starter Set for Flower Pots 

 

By purchasing both starter sets, you’ll end up with a second master unit that you don’t need. Instead, it may be better to buy each component individually depending on the number of pots you have. For example:

 

- A (smaller diameter) supply piper (can be cut to size)

Reducing T-joints (one per pot) 

End caps or inline drip heads (depending on the type of tub you have) 

Plugs 
 

 

First fit Eve Aqua to your outdoor faucet. Once it’s installed, add your schedules right away in the Eve app for automatic irrigation. Connect your hose to Eve Aqua. 

 

Attach the connecting pipe to the master unit, then connect that to the hose attached to Eve Aqua. Now route the connecting pipe along the flower bed. Fit the spray nozzles to the pipe directly as needed using the installation tool. Finally, route the connecting pipe next to your potted plants. Run the smaller diameter supply pipe into each pot. You’ll need to branch this off from the larger diameter connecting pipe using the reducing T-joints. See here for details on how to fit the flower pot irrigation system.

TIP: Fit an additional twin-tap connector between your faucet and Eve Aqua, and you won’t need to remove Eve Aqua for those times when you just need to fill your paddling pool or wash your hands.

4. Water your patio plants, flower beds, hedges and lawn for different lengths of time 

Lawns and potted plants have very different watering needs when the weather turns dry. Whereas lawns require a good soaking every few days, potted plants need watering daily but with significantly less water. That’s why we recommend you use different watering periods. 

 

With Eve Aqua and a Gardena six-way water distributor, you can water up to six areas at different times and with different amounts of water. The distributor is a mechanical device which takes the water supplied by your faucet to its inlet and distributes it through six outlets, allowing you to connect sprinklers, drip systems, misters and more. If the water pressure stops, the distributor switches to the next outlet.

 

What makes this system smart is Eve Aqua, which you connect between your faucet and the Gardena distributor. Use the Eve app to easily set different watering periods for each of the six outlets. For example, you can use outlet 1 to water your pots for three minutes each day, use outlet 2 to water your flower beds for 10 minutes each day, and use outlet 3 to water your lawn for 20 minutes once a week. Any unused outlets can be locked using a manual lever.

 

And best of all, you can set up this seemingly complex arrangement intuitively and in a matter of minutes using the Eve app, and modify it whenever you want. 

 

You’ll need: 

 

- 1 Eve Aqua

- 1 Gardena 6-way Water Distributor Automatic

- Accessories as listed under points 1 - 3 plus additional sprinklers or irrigation systems as needed

- Each outlet requires its own hose with a hose connector

 

First fit Eve Aqua to your outdoor faucet and set it up in the Eve app. Connect one end of your hose to Eve Aqua and the other end to your Gardena six-way water distributor. Now you can connect a range of different irrigation systems. Here are some example solutions.

 

Add custom schedules for automatic irrigation – and then put your feet up!

 
 

Increase the reach of Eve Aqua

Add HomePod mini to your home and your Thread-enabled Eve Aqua (2nd generation) will be able to communicate via Thread – the mesh network that reaches even the farthest corners of your abode. This happens automatically without you needing to configure anything. Simply position a Full Thread Device, such as Eve Energy, as close as possible to your Eve Aqua. The Eve Energy accessory will then act as a router node and relay data packets from Eve Aqua.

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