Is Your Water System Ready for Summer?

Following our first guide, A record El Niño and your courts, it is time to move from the forecast to the hardware.

This is not a guide on what to buy. It is a twenty-minute walk-around to check your existing system works before the heat hits.

The rainwater tank

Start with your storage. Tanks used only for outdoor irrigation need no plumbing permit. That is under the Queensland Plumbing and Wastewater Code.

However, Queensland Health requires all tanks to be screened against mosquitoes on inlets, outlets, and overflows.

Check your inlet screen. You may need to unscrew it to brush, scoop, or wash off debris.

Ensure there are no gaps where a mosquito could enter. Check for tears in the mesh and replace any damaged sections.

Check that your overflow is clear and your first-flush diverter is working. For a detailed checklist, see this Smart Approved WaterMark maintenance factsheet.

The pump

If your pump won't deliver water, don't assume it is broken.

Loss of prime is the most common cause of failure for surface pumps that have sat idle over winter dormancy.

Check for an air leak in the suction pipe. A leaking foot or check valve can also make priming difficult.

Ensure the pump and suction pipe were filled with water before starting. A clogged impeller, suction pipe, or foot valve can also stop delivery.

Before calling a technician, re-prime the unit according to the manufacturer's instructions. You can find the Onga MF55 troubleshooting table or the Onga Rapid Prime priming procedure.pdf) for specific steps.

Filtration

Check your filters to avoid blocked nozzles downstream.

Rotor irrigation systems require a minimum 80-mesh (200 micron) screen filter. Drip systems require a 120-mesh (130 micron) disc filter.

If your club uses sediment-heavy bore water, disc filters generally outperform screen filters.

Inspect the filter element for buildup. A blocked filter often shows up as poor pressure or "blind" nozzles on the court.

Sprinklers and controllers

Physically walk the courts. Check every sprinkler head for blockages or misalignment.

If your club has a smart controller, verify the settings. This includes the Hunter Pro-HC Hydrawise, Rain Bird ESP-ME3 with LNK2, or Toro Tempus.

Confirm the weather-adjust or rain-skip feature is switched on. It is common for these to be installed but forgotten.

Ensure the system is actively using local weather data to prevent unnecessary watering.

Water restrictions

Check your status now. Do not assume residential rules apply to your courts.

As of 11 August 2026, Seqwater's SEQ Water Grid showed combined dam storage at 82.6%. That is down 0.4 percentage points over the previous week.

Contact your water authority now. Confirm your club's registered user class and any sports-ground exemptions in writing.

Retroactive exemption requests are much harder to secure once a restriction is already active.

This guide could not confirm the exact current restriction stage for Urban Utilities or Unitywater. Their specific status pages returned 404 errors on 11 August.

You must check the Urban Utilities or Unitywater homepages directly, or ring them to confirm your current stage.

What is next?

Most dry-season failures are not equipment problems. They are screens that weren't checked, pumps that lost prime, or restriction statuses that weren't confirmed.

Review the initial forecast guide if you missed it.

Next, we will publish Getting the lawn through a hot, dry summer.

Tell us in the comments what you found. Working, needs fixing, or hardware nobody knew was there.