"A garden sprinkler [in one hour] uses the same amount of water as a family of four in one day."
Caroline Roux, Journalist
During the nineteenth century, the United States saw many people moving out of the city centers into the burgeoning suburbs. With more space, people began to develop an interest in cultivating gardens. The widespread introduction of city water systems also brought water to more homes.
There are thousands of sprinkler patents, and it is difficult to credit the invention to one person. American Joseph Oswald's sprinkler was not the first to be patented, and his application described it as making "improvements in lawn sprinklers." His design improved the way in which the head of the sprinkler moved and also dealt with the issues of wear and tear that occurred because of the constant motion of the sprinkler. Earlier sprinklers had often been static, but Oswald's was one of the first to have a rotating mechanism propelled by the water it distributed.
The classic design of the domestic lawn sprinkler has a hosepipe supplying water to a metal arm that spins on a base, spreading water thinly over a large area. Within the mechanism of the sprinkler, there is a system of gears controlling the speed of the arm to keep it from moving too quickly.
Lawn sprinklers are popular throughout the world. However, in countries with water shortages, their use has been criticized as wasting a valuable resource.
