Booster Rooster: Fixing Low Water Pressure in My Sprinkler System

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”—so proclaims the Declaration of Independence. In a society where everyone seems to shout, “I have rights,” that list of claimants has certainly grown over time.

This Spring, I found myself frustrated when my lawn sprinklers weren’t working properly—dry patches everywhere. After some troubleshooting, I discovered the problem: the City of Spokane wasn’t supplying adequate water pressure to our street. At just 25 PSI, the flow wasn’t strong enough to run even one sprinkler head effectively, let alone an entire lawn irrigation system.

My first reaction? “This is ridiculous—I pay good money for water every month. Why can’t the city deliver a consistent water supply?” But as expected, my complaints went unheard. So, I had to find my own fix for low water pressure.

Enter: the booster pump. It connects to the city water line, and from there, an electric motor increases the pressure to where it should’ve been in the first place. There are many options out there, but most require a separate control switch and expansion tank. Thankfully, I came across the Grundfos Scala2 booster pump—a compact, all-in-one unit that was simple to install and solved my sprinkler system issues completely.

And just like that, I reclaimed a little bit of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”—one sprinkler zone at a time.