Rich's Water Valve Relay Controller for a Bird Bath

Water Valve Relay Controller

Using an Orbit 27987 Water Valve

6/14/2011

I needed a way to control the water for my bird bath. I have a low volume water mister that I use to keep the bird bath full.

The birds love the mist (especially hummingbirds). They fly in and out of the mist and then land for a drink of water.

The other birds love to take baths.You can see my live birdcam here.

I want the water to turn off at night to converve water and save money on my water bill.

So I designed this circuit using a GE model 15089 digital timer and and Orbit 27987 water valve.

The bird bath water comes on at 6 AM and goes off at 9 PM.

Using the GE timer, I can program any time and duration I wish (something you cannot do with standard water timers because most of them limit the amount of time the water can be on).

The other nice thing is that the water valve is separated from the electronics. If the valve ever leaks or becomes defective, It is just $15.00 to replace.

There is no battery to worry about.

This is also a great way to control a lawn sprinkler system when you are on water restrictions that require you to water on certain days and specific times of the day.

Build one yourself

You can see my whole project here including the circuit schematic and parts used.