RainCAD™ includes the tools necessary to complete an irrigation design including sprinkler placement, zoning, piping, pipe sizing, hydraulic calculations and more.
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Sprinkler Placement
There are now four methods of sprinkler placement in RainCAD™. You may place sprinklers manually on the screen, automatically within a boundary line, automatically along an existing or temporary line or curve, or automatically place bubbler or emitters in a circular pattern around selected plant material.
Show Equipment
The Show Equipment feature will allow you to limit the number of sprinkler nozzles available for selection in either Manual Placement or Along a Line or Curve. Sprinkler manufacturers provide a wide variety of nozzle selections to accommodate virtually any situation. Therefore, the choice of nozzles may become overwhelming. In some instances, you may want to limit the number of nozzle choices to those nozzles you use on a regular basis to speed up the selection process. For this feature to work properly, you must first adjust the Visible in Sprinkler Placement setting for each nozzle in the Sprinklers Database.
 Manual
Manual sprinkler placement allows you to select a sprinkler from a database of nozzle selections. The sprinkler will appear on the design screen and you may immediately move it to the desired location. When you place the symbol on the screen, you can set a second point to rotate the symbol in the correct direction. You will see the symbol during the entire process allowing you to accurately place the sprinkler.
Within a Boundary
You can place sprinklers automatically within a boundary line using a “palette” of nozzles. Since irrigation equipment manufacturers have so many different nozzle selections, it is necessary to group these selections into smaller subgroups for automatic placement. We call these subgroups sprinkler palettes. Simply select a palette and click on a boundary line. The sprinklers will be placed within the boundary based on their radius of throw and arc pattern assignment.
Automatically Calculate Full Circle Row Angle
When placing sprinklers automatically within a boundary line, you now have a selection that will allow you to set two points on the design screen for the angle of the full circle sprinklers that will fill the middle of the boundary area.
Along a Line or Curve
To place sprinkler symbols along a line or curve, simply select the nozzle from the database and click on the line or curve on the design screen. You may accept the calculated spacing to evenly space the sprinklers along the line, or you may enter an exact spacing requirement. Set a second point to determine the direction the sprinklers will face and the program will draw the sprinkler symbols.
Circular Layout
This command allows you to quickly place bubbler or emitter symbols around selected plant symbols. You can specify the number of devices around each plant and the distance from the center of the plant.
Water Source
RainCAD™ allows for an unlimited number of water sources per design. A water source can be a pump station or water meter. The database comes with water meters from 5/8” up to 6” in size.
Water Meters
When placing a water meter on the design, you can select the size of the meter and enter the available static pressure at the meter location. You can select the type of service line pipe, enter the length of the service line and the change in elevation from the main to the meter location. The program will recommend the flow through the meter and calculate the available working pressure.
Pump Stations
When placing a pump station, you can enter the available flow and pressure provided by the pump. You can also enter the pricing information and labor for installation to include in the estimating portion of the software.
Additional Irrigation Symbols
You may place additional symbols on the design for irrigation equipment. Each device will be counted in the material takeoff or estimate/proposal.
Backflow Devices, Control Valves, Controllers, Quick Couplers, Isolation Valves and Accessories
Simply select a category from the menus, choose a device from the database selections and place the symbol on the design screen. You will see each symbol as it appears on the screen. You can set a second point to rotate the symbol in the desired direction.
Pipe Placement
You may place pipe on the drawing using either manual or automatic features. You can also break pipe at intersections and draw pipe hops using the Modify Pipe commands.
 Manual
When drawing pipe, you can leave the pipe unsized or you can draw the pipe in a category and size. To draw pipe, simply set two or more points on the design screen and press Enter.
Auto Snap Pipe to Symbols
The Auto Snap Pipe to Symbols feature will assist in connecting the pipe to irrigation symbols. If the Auto Snap Pipe to Symbols feature is enabled, the software will automatically connect the pipe to the closest irrigation symbol based on the Pipe Snap Distance setting.
Automatic
RainCAD™ can draw lateral line pipe automatically. Simply select the zones to pipe and set the desired angle for the pipe. You can pipe a single zone at a time, or select multiple zones for piping. You can adjust the pipe by setting the lateral line row variance and the minimum length for lateral line branches.
Modify Pipe
After drawing pipe manually, simply select the water source and zone number from the drop down menus and the program will automatically break the lateral line pipe at any intersection to ensure that the pipe may be sized correctly.
You can draw pipe hops by simply selecting the pipe to make the hop, set a point at the intersection of the two pieces of pipe, and set a final point in the direction for the hop to appear.
Drip Tubing
In addition to manual drip tubing placement, you can now automatically place drip tubing at a set row distance within a boundary line. The command does not add lateral line pipe connecting the tubing to the control valve. You will have to draw the lateral line pipe yourself. If lateral line pipe is connecting each piece of tubing back to the control valve, the program will determine the flow of the zone for mainline pipe sizing and hydraulic calculations.
Wire/Cable
You may draw wire or cable on the design by simply selecting the cable size and setting two or points on the screen.
Sleeving
Draw a sleeving symbol by selecting the pipe category and size and setting three points on the design screen.
Valve Notations
There are three different valve notation symbols from which to choose. Simply select a symbol and the zone number. The symbol will appear on the screen complete with the zone number, the control valve size and the flow of the zone.
Place/Update Notations
The valve notation symbols can now be automatically updated when changes are made to a zone such as the valve size or the flow. You can also set a text size which will increase or decrease the size of the overall symbol.
Installation Details
The program includes product installation details from several different manufacturers. You may add details to the database, or edit any of the details included with the program.
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Total Flow
Quickly calculate the flow of all sprinklers on the design screen. The command will break the flow into the categories of sprinklers such as turf sprays, shrub sprays, turf rotors and shrub rotors. If a single water source exists, the command will recommend the number of zones and the recommended flow per zone for each category of sprinklers.
Water Source / Zone Assignments
The Water Source/Zone Assignment command will allow you to assign a water source and zone number to the selected sprinkler symbols or control valves. You may also assign a backflow device or master valve to a water source. You may add or remove sprinkler symbols, control valves, backflow devices, or master valves to or from their assignments.
Assignments
Assign a zone number to the selected sprinkler or control valve symbols. You may also assign a backflow device or master valve to a water source. You may add or remove sprinkler symbols, control valves, backflow devices, or master valves to or from their assignments. In addition, you may use the command to simply total the flow of the selected sprinkler symbols. The command displays the total flow of all sprinklers assigned to a zone in the dialog box. If the flow exceeds the recommended flow through the water source, the flow will be displayed in red as a warning.
Valve / Valve-in-Head Assignment
With the new Valve / Valve-in-Head Assignment feature, you can quickly assign valve-in-head sprinklers or control valve symbols to a zone number by continuing to select the symbols on the design. The program will automatically increment to the next zone number as you select symbols on the design. This feature does not work on ordinary sprinkler symbols.
Reassignment
There may be times when a zone is removed from a design or a new zone is inserted into a design and the remaining zone assignments must be adjusted accordingly. The Reassignment command will allow you to change the zone assignment of the sprinkler or control valve symbols.
Validate Assignment
The Validate Assignment command will allow you to query the project database and compare the zone assignments in the database with the actual symbols located on the drawing screen. There may be times when a sprinkler or control valve is assigned to a zone and then deleted from the drawing screen. The sprinkler still exists in the project database, but it no longer appears on the drawing. This command eliminates these types of potential problems.
Automatic Pipe Sizing
Automatically sizes lateral line and mainline pipe.
Lateral Line Pipe
You may quickly size all lateral line pipe on the design at one time or you may select specific zones to size.
Pipe Viewer
This feature more clearly identifies pipe that cannot be sized during the automatic pipe sizing process. You may click on each individual piece of pipe in the error list and have it clearly marked in the viewer. You may zoom in, zoom out, zoom the entire zone(s), or pan the drawing within the viewer.
Mainline Pipe
Size all mainline pipe within the selected water source from the furthest control valve back to the water source location. The command now automatically detects any mainline loop piping network and sizes the pipe based on the Hardy Cross method of balancing flows and pressure loss. In addition, the command now allows for single valve operation or multiple control valves operating at one time.
Pipe Network Data Viewer
Allows you to select a piece of pipe on the screen and view more detailed information such as the size, length, flow, velocity, and pressure loss. Arrows indicate the direction of flow in looped networks. You can export the data to an HTML file for printing or inclusion in another software program.
Options
You may set the desired velocity in the pipe and a percent pressure variance in the lateral line zone. You may turn off any pipe size you do not want to use in the sizing process. For example, if you do not use 1/2" or 1 1/4" pipe, you can turn them off and the program will disregard these sizes. Pipe may be color coded by zone, or you may color the pipe based on the color setting in the Pipe database.
Size Transitions Only
The program will now allow you to place pipe size labels on every piece of pipe or place pipe size labels at transitions in size when using the Automatic Pipe Sizing commands. This tool can save valuable time in cleaning up the drawing and making the design more legible.
Symbol Elevation Adjustment
The Symbol Elevation Adjustment command will allow you to assign elevation to water source, control valve, and sprinkler symbols. This elevation change will be accounted for when calculating the system hydraulics.
Hydraulics
Simply select a water source and zone number or run set and click on the OK button generate the system hydraulics. The hydraulic calculations include the pressure loss through the service line, water meter, backflow device, mainline, control valve and the lateral lines. In addition, they include the pressure required at the sprinkler.
Hydraulics Viewer
Allows you to select an object on the screen and view more detailed information on the equipment such as the size, length, flow, velocity, and pressure loss in an individual piece of pipe. You can export the information to an HTML file for printing or inclusion in other software programs.
Insert Summary
You can now (once again) insert a small summary of the hydraulic calculations directly on the design screen as text. In addition, you can set the text size and color for the hydraulic summary.
Precipitation Rates
You can quickly calculate the precipitation rate of any area. Simply select a formula from the drop down menu and enter the required data.
Distribution
Creates a densogram of the selected sprinkler zones displaying the coverage. Drag the mouse around the entire display to see the estimated application rate at any point in the sprinkler layout. The command will allow you to calculate the distribution of a single zone, multiple zones, or the entire project. The command reads the sprinkler layout from the design with no restrictions on sprinkler placement.
The command is based on real distribution information. If no information is entered in the Sprinklers Database, the command will assume a perfect distribution and calculate the densogram accordingly.
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Preferences
The Preferences command will allow you to enter specific information to avoid the repetitive input of data.
General
Select the units of measurement for the design in either US Units or Metric Units. You may select a scale factor to increase or decrease the size of the symbols when they first appear on the design. You can also enter label sizes to increase or decrease the Zone Assignment numbers associated with sprinkler symbols and other irrigation equipment. In addition, you may select the desired flow format in either gallons per minute, liters per second, liters per minute or cubic meters per hour.
Pipe
Set the scale (the distance between the dashes) for the mainline pipe. You can also set the text size, offset from the pipe, and the color for pipe size labels. You can set the color in which pipe will be drawn for each zone when sizing pipe automatically using the Automatic Color Code Zones feature.
Sprinklers
The Sprinklers Preferences will display the layers on which sprinkler symbols and arc patterns are drawn. You can set the line type and the color for the sprinkler arc patterns and you can adjust the Arc Pattern Line Width and the Arc Pattern Line Scale making the wetting pattern for each sprinkler more visible on large drawings.
Pipe Lengths by Category
Quickly calculate the total length of pipe on the design and separate it into categories. It will also break the lengths out into lateral line and mainline pipe.
Properties
The Properties dialog box will allow you to adjust the properties of the selected sprinkler symbol. You can adjust the radius of the throw, the arc pattern, or the sprinkler body assignment. In addition, you can replace a sprinkler with a new selection. For example, you can select a 15 foot sprinkler from one manufacturer and replace it with a 15 foot sprinkler from another manufacturer. Simply make the desired selections in the dialog box and click on the Apply button.
You can change the characteristics on more than one piece of selected pipe at a time.
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The databases of irrigation equipment include Hunter, Irritrol Systems, Nelson, Netafim, Rain Bird, Toro, Walla Walla Sprinkler Company, and Weathermatic. In most of the database commands, you can enter the List Price for the equipment, the Discount Rate received from a supplier and the Labor Rate required for installation of the product. In addition, you can assign the equipment to an Equipment Code to allow for the quick adjustment of items such as the list price and more. In addition, you can enter a Part Number and select a Supplier Code and Tied Assembly.
All of the irrigation databases are stored in a Microsoft Access format for increased stability.
Sprinklers
You may add an unlimited number of manufacturers and sprinklers to the existing database, or you may edit any of the current equipment listings. You may assign a symbol to each nozzle from more than 200 current symbol selections or you may create your own symbols. You may assign a color for each nozzle and an arc pattern displaying the wetting pattern. Each nozzle includes the manufacturers performance data of pressure, flow and radius.
View in Sprinkler Placement
To limit the nozzle selections shown in the Sprinkler Placement command, disable the View in Sprinkler Placement check box by clicking on the selection until the checkmark no longer appears in the box.
Distribution Data
On the Performance Data tab, you can now enter the actual distribution analysis for a sprinkler. Enter known distances such as 1 foot, 2 feet, 3 feet, etcetera and enter the known precipitation rate information for each distance.
Distribution Chart
A distribution chart will be created as you enter performance data in the Sprinklers Database.
Sprinkler Bodies
Each sprinkler nozzle may be assigned to a body. You may place the same nozzle on a design and have it installed on more than one body. For example, you may place a Rain Bird nozzle on an 1804-PRS body in some instances and on an 1804-SAM-PRS in other instances.
Sprinkler Palette Assignments
Each manufacturer has literally hundreds of different sprinkler nozzle selections. When placing sprinklers automatically within a boundary line, you will only need to make use of a few nozzle selections. Just as an artist has millions of colors to choose from when he begins a painting, he only makes use of a few colors that he places on his palette. A sprinkler palette is similar to an artists color palette.
A Sprinkler Palette is a group of sprinklers to use in a particular situation. For example, you may create a palette of nozzles consisting of only 15 foot sprays. In addition, you may have another palette consisting of 8 foot or 10 foot nozzles. You may create separate palettes for turf sprays, shrub sprays, turf rotors and shrub rotors. You may create as many sprinkler palettes as required for each manufacturer and each sprinkler category. In addition, you may assign each sprinkler to one or more sprinkler palettes.
Meters, Backflow Devices, Control Valves
These databases include equipment from most major manufacturers. The Water Meter database includes meters from 5/8” up to 6” in size. Each entry includes performance data including the flow and pressure loss. You may edit any of the information or enter an unlimited number of new devices.
Outlet Size and Type
You can now set both an inlet and outlet size and type on control valves to assist in calculating the correct fittings required for installation.
Controllers, Quick Couplers, Isolation Valves, Accessories
These databases include equipment from most major manufacturers. You may edit any of the information or enter an unlimited number of new devices.
Pipe
This database includes 17 different categories of pipe in both English and Metric Units of measurement. The categories include poly, PVC, copper and galvanized. Pipe sizes range from 1/2” to 12” in size. You may edit the information in any of these categories. In addition, there are 13 custom categories available for use. You may add an unlimited number of pipe sizes to each category.
Pipe Fittings
This database includes pipe fittings of all sizes. You can enter the inlet and outlet size and type.
Drip Tubing
The Drip Tubing Database allows you to create a database of inline emitter tubing selections based on the chosen manufacturer.
Wire/Cable
This database includes wire from 00 to 18 gauge. You may add an unlimited number of additional wire sizes.
Tied Assemblies and Supplies
A Tied Assembly is the combination of supplies that are associated with the installation of a single piece of equipment. Tied assemblies can be built for sprinkler bodies, controllers, backflow devices, control valves and more. For example, a tied assembly for a one inch control valve may consist of two 1" PVC (MIPT x Slip) fittings, two waterproof wire connectors, one 10" round valve box and one cubic foot of pea gravel. Each assembly may be assigned to one or more pieces of equipment in the database selections. All of the product in an assembly is counted in the Material/Estimate command.
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There are hundreds of symbols included in the program. There are 202 different symbols to represent sprinklers. You may assign any of these symbols to one or more sprinklers in the database. You may create your own symbols or edit any of the symbols included in the program.
In addition to sprinkler symbols, there are symbols for control valves, controllers, quick couplers and more. There are more than 100 different installation details as well as symbols to represent furniture, rocks, boulders, automobiles and more.
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