Sustainability and savings are rarely mentioned in the same breath, but smart irrigation practices offer a rare opportunity for both. As water becomes increasingly more expensive across the country, opportunities to conserve a natural resource while reducing costs are becoming more available and attainable.
Whether a site is residential or commercial and managed by onsite, offsite, in-house, or contracted staff, there are opportunities to sell business, save money, and conserve a precious resource. It is common to have irrigation conservation upgrades paid for within 18 months depending on local utility rates. However, this is not a blanket recommendation since there is the possibility that consumption will increase in traditionally underirrigated sites. Careful research of historical utility bills will show the best opportunities for savings.
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Smart Irrigation Technologies
Conventional irrigation controllers use static timers to schedule irrigation. While dependable, they are reliant on people to set and adjust their run times and lack the ability to monitor and adjust based on weather or site conditions. Smart irrigation technologies overcome the challenge of a manager’s limited time and capacity for daily monitoring by allowing the system to monitor conditions and self-adjust based on weather, sensor data, and by utilizing rain sensors to halt irrigation during precipitation. With internet connections, the system will also notify end users of the changes.
Smart irrigation technologies overcome the challenge of a manager’s limited time and capacity for daily monitoring by allowing the system to monitor conditions and self-adjust based on weather, sensor data, and by utilizing rain sensors to halt irrigation during precipitation.
Smart irrigation automation is driven by internal algorithms that gather information about the site, including plant types, soil, and weather. The controller tailors water applications by increasing water during periods of hot and dry weather and reducing water in response to lower temperatures or excessive cloud cover.
While no system is perfect, research has shown that the typical smart system in a humid environment can reduce water consumption by up to 43% compared to a professional water manager. Compared to systems that were not managed, savings of over 50% are possible without any additional components being added in the field. In arid conditions where rainfall is limited, these savings will naturally be reduced and there will have to be a higher reliance on increasing the distribution uniformity of the system…
Haley, CGM, is VP of Grounds Management for SSC – Services for Education, a University and K-12 facilities services provider. He is a Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditor (CLIA) with the Irrigation Association as well as a Texas-licensed Irrigator. He is also a Certified Grounds Manager through the Professional Grounds Management Society with 25 years of experience in the Green Industry.Â
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