Oscillating Water Sprinklers
What Is An Oscillating Sprinkler?
An oscillating sprinkler pushes streams of water out through holes along a hollow bar. Under pressure, the water is pushed high and falls to the ground in drops like a natural rainfall. This curtain of water moves back and forth to provide even watering over large areas. Many oscillating sprinklers can be adjusted to direct the curtain of water to fall upon specific locations.
Is An Oscillating Sprinkler Better?
The advantage of the oscillating sprinkler is its ability to apply even drops of water that soak into the soil before water is applied again. This sweeping motion is beneficial for deep watering to the roots. It is also beneficial for use on newly planted seeds because the ground has time to absorb the water so the seeds don’t get carried away by pooled water. When using the full movement of an oscillating sprinkler, it is best used for large areas with no obstacles to block even water distribution.
 | Fiskars/Gilmour 883023-1011 883023 Oscillating Sprinkler OSCILLATING SPRINKLER
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How Much Water Does An Oscillating Sprinkler Put Out?
A general estimate of how much water a maximum running oscillating sprinkler puts out is one inch of water per hour.
If you want to test your sprinklers water flow output, here is an easy way:
- Adjust the sprinkler to the spray pattern and position as you will be using it.
- Gather several shallow flat containers (like Rubbermaid) that will be used to collect water. Flat containers provide more surface area for collecting water than a glass or cup would. Place the containers in even locations on the ground in the spray pattern of the water.
- Open the faucet and run the sprinkler for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes measure the depth of water in each container. Determine the average depth collected by adding the depths together and dividing by the number of containers used. Multiply this number by 4 (4 15-minute session in one hour) and this will be your output of water per hour.
For example if 4 containers were used with the following depths collected:
¼” (.25) + 3/8” (.375) + ¼” (.25) + 3/8” (.375) = 1.25/4 containers = .3125 (5/16”) average
.3125 x 4 = 1.25” water flow output per hour
 | Fiskars/Gilmour 888303-1012 888303 Oscillator Sprinkler OSCILLATOR SPRINKLER
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How Much Water Do Annual Flowers Need?
 | Melnor XT45110 Turbo Osc Sprinkler TURBO OSCILLATING SPRINKLER W/ INTEGRATED TIMER
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 | Melnor XT45360M Mtl Osc Sprinkler METAL TURBO OSCILLATING SPRINKLER W/ BRASS NOZZLES
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 | Melnor XT45200 Xt45200b Turbo Osc Sprinkler TURBO OSCILLATING SPRINKLER W/ FLOW CONTROL
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 | Orbit Irrigation 58895N Oscillating Sprinkler EASY CLICK 3600 SQ. FT. OSCILLATING SPRINKLER
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 | Melnor XT360M Metal Oscillating Sprinkler METAL TURBO OSCILLATING SPRINKLER
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 | Melnor 4060 Mini Turbo Oscillating Sprinkler MINI TURBO OSCILLATING SPRINKLER
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 | Melnor XT4100 Oscillating Turbo Sprinkler OSCILLATING TURBO SPRINKLER
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Interested in rotary sprinklers too? Find them here.
 | World & Main/Cranbury 104906 Turbo Oscillating Sprinkler ~ 18 Hole 18 HOLE TURBO OSCILLATING SPRINKLER
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 | World & Main/Cranbury 110133 Os1/Pdq 15hole Oscil Sprinkler 15 HOLE OSCILLATING SPRINKLER
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 | Melnor 4065 Step Spike Sprinkler, Oscillating MINI-TURBO OSCILLATING STEP-SPIKE SPRINKLER
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 | Fiskars/Gilmour 880603-1011 Oscillating Sprinkler, Metal METAL OSCILLATING SPRINKLER
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