Irrigation Wellington

A good irrigation system waters the garden while you are at work, on holiday or simply forgetting, and uses less water than standing there with a hose. A bad one floods one bed, misses the next, and leaks quietly under the lawn for months. The difference is in the design and the plumbing at the tap end.

We design, install and repair garden irrigation across the region, from steep terraced gardens in Hataitai and Kelburn to the flatter coastal sections of Paraparaumu, Raumati and Ōtaki. Every system gets the right backflow protection, sensible zones for sun and shade, and a controller set up for the season, plus the option of running it from a rainwater tank.

Pricing: quotes are free, and every job gets a fixed price before we start, so there are no surprises on the invoice.

Irrigation Jobs We Handle Across Wellington

• Irrigation wellington
• Garden irrigation system installation
• Drip irrigation installer
• Irrigation backflow preventer
• Rainwater tank irrigation pump
• Irrigation repairs

Backflow protection comes first

If mains pressure drops, for example during a burst in the street, water can be drawn backwards out of your garden pipes into the supply. With irrigation, that water may have been sitting in soil or mixed with fertiliser. A backflow device at the connection stops that from happening.

On the Kāpiti Coast the rule is explicit: Kāpiti Coast District Council says every connection in the district needs some form of backflow prevention, and residential properties may need more protection if they have an irrigation meter or a second water source such as a tank. In Wellington City, the Hutt and Porirua, we fit a device suited to the risk, and testable devices are checked under the NZ Backflow Testing Standard by a certified tester. We can set you up with regular backflow testing so the records stay current.

Designing for Wellington wind and slopes

Wellington is windy. NIWA's normals show Wellington Airport recording gusts over 63 km/h on around 166 days a year, while Paraparaumu sees far fewer. Fine sprays and tall pop-ups lose a lot of water to drift on an exposed section, so we lean on drip line under mulch for beds and keep lawn sprinklers low and close.

Slopes change the design too. On a terraced hillside garden, the bottom of a zone sees more pressure than the top, and water runs off before it soaks in. We split hills into short zones, use pressure-compensating drippers, and run shorter cycles so water goes into the soil, not down the bank or onto the neighbour's retaining wall.

• Drip line under mulch for garden beds, shrubs and hedges
• Micro-sprays or bubblers for vegetable gardens and pots in sheltered spots
• Low pop-up sprinklers for lawns, laid out so coverage overlaps evenly
• Separate zones for sun, shade and slope
• A controller with a rain or soil moisture sensor so it skips wet days
• Isolation valves and a filter at the head of each zone

How It Works

Water restrictions and staying within the rules

Tiaki Wai uses four restriction levels across Wellington City, the Hutt Valley and Porirua. At Level 1, sprinklers and irrigation can run on alternate days (even house numbers on even dates, odd on odd) between 6 and 8am and 7 and 9pm. Level 2 stops sprinklers and irrigation altogether, leaving hand watering only. Levels 3 and 4 ban residential outdoor use. Upper Hutt sits at Level 1 all year round.

Levels change with the season, so check the current level with Tiaki Wai before you set a controller. We programme systems to the alternate-day pattern and morning and evening windows, which suits plants anyway, and add sensors so the system does not run in the rain.

Running irrigation from a rainwater tank

Rainfall in the region ranges from under 1,000 mm a year at the airport to well over that in the Hutt, so a roof collects a useful amount of water. A tank-fed system needs a pump sized for the zone with the highest demand, a filter to keep sediment out of the drippers, and a way to switch to mains when the tank runs low.

If there is a mains top-up or changeover, backflow protection is still needed so tank water cannot get into the network. We can add rainwater tanks and a pump as part of the project, or connect to a tank you already have.

Leaks, meters and seasonal checks

Older systems often leak at buried joiners or have a valve that never quite shuts. In most of Wellington City, the Hutt and Porirua, homes are not on a water meter, so a leaking irrigation line will not show up on a bill; it just wastes water on a network Tiaki Wai says lost an average of 37% in 2025/26 across public and private leaks. On the Kāpiti Coast every home is metered, so a leak costs you directly.

If you suspect the irrigation, our leak detection gear can find the fault without digging up every line. We also do spring start-up checks: flushing lines, cleaning filters, replacing broken heads and resetting the controller for the season.

What affects the cost

Every irrigation job gets a free quote after we have walked the section. The price depends on section size and the number of zones, the mix of drip line, sprays and sprinklers, trenching through lawn, clay or rock and under paths, steep or terraced access, the controller and sensors, the backflow device, and any tank, pump and changeover equipment for a tank-fed setup.

Why Choose Cheeky's Plumbers for Irrigation

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Irrigation Near You

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Irrigation Guides

• Wellington Water Restrictions: What Level 1 Means for Your Garden and Hose

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