What does an irrigation system cost in Mallorca?

Adding automatic irrigation to a medium Mallorca garden usually costs €1,800 to €2,600 as part of a larger job. Planting the same garden and watering it as one project runs €7,800 to €11,200. Drip is the standard here rather than a preference: several municipalities allow garden watering only through it.

What is in an irrigation system?

A working system is five things: a water source with a filter, a programmer, valves that split the garden into zones, distribution pipe buried or hidden under mulch, and the drippers themselves sized to each plant. On a terraced plot add pressure regulation, because a fall of several metres across the garden means the top drippers starve while the bottom ones flood.

The parts are not expensive. What you pay for is trenching, the hydraulic design and someone who has seen what limestone water does to a filter after two summers.

What does it cost?

Retro-fitting into an established garden costs more than laying pipe in an empty one, for the obvious reason: every run has to avoid roots that are already there. The garden cost guide sets these figures next to the rest of the build.

Why drip rather than sprinklers?

Three reasons, and only one of them is about money. Municipal restrictions on this island commonly limit garden watering to drip systems, so a sprinkler layout can be a rule problem rather than a design choice. Drip also puts water at the root instead of into the air, which matters in July when a sprinkler loses a good part of its output to evaporation before it lands. And it keeps foliage dry, which reduces the fungal problems that follow a humid coastal night.

The exception is lawn, which cannot be dripped and is the reason lawn is the first thing restrictions come for. If a lawn is not negotiable, it is worth reading what the current water rules mean for your municipality before it is laid.

How should a system be zoned?

By thirst, not by geography. The most common fault we hear about is a single valve feeding a citrus tree, a bed of lavender and a row of pots: whichever one is watered correctly, the other two are wrong. A sensible layout separates new planting from established planting, pots from beds, and anything shaded from anything in full sun.

Timers should be set for the cool hours. Watering at night or in the early morning cuts evaporation losses substantially compared with the middle of the day, and in a restricted municipality it may also be the only permitted window.

What does a system need each year?

• Filters cleaned. Island water carries enough calcium to block a dripper in a season.
• A run of every zone with someone watching, to find the emitters that are no longer emitting.
• Seasonal adjustment of the programme. A schedule left on summer settings through October wastes water and drowns roots.
• A winter check of exposed pipe and valves before the first cold snap.

How the matching works

We do not install irrigation. We keep a list of vetted irrigation companies on Mallorca and pass your job to the ones that cover your area, who quote you directly. Request free quotes and compare what each of them proposes to zone.

Before you dig

Know your water source, your rough garden size and whether anything is already planted. Send that through and vetted Mallorca companies will quote the system directly, with nothing added on our side. If you are still deciding what to specify, the irrigation guide for Mallorca covers types, zoning and water sources.