Letting the Weather Control the Water: Smart Irrigation System Controllers Take the Guesswork Out of Watering the Garden |
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July 18, 2008
From San Francisco Chronicle By Jillian Steinberger Plants haven't been genetically engineered (yet) to think like humans, but a new generation of "smart" irrigation controllers is thinking for them - and for us. These high-efficiency systems can be heroes in the garden. According to WaterSense, an Environmental Protection Agency water-conservation program, as much as 70 percent of a home's total water use during the dry season may go to landscape irrigation, and some experts estimate that more than 50 percent of landscape water is wasted because of evaporation, wind or overwatering. "Smart controllers can have a large impact on making every drop of irrigation count toward keeping your landscape well-watered, healthy and beautiful," says Cynthia Havstad, program manager at Stopwaste.org. Smart controllers work by delivering the right amount of water to plants, creating healthier growing conditions with improved plant performance, plus fewer pests and diseases. After installation, homeowners can see a 30 to 40 percent drop in landscape water use - and lower bills. Reduced water also means less maintenance because of fewer weeds and less pruning. Another benefit is less runoff, which can leak fertilizers, petrochemical residues and other pollutants into the bay. How they work Traditional timers turn water on and off based on a programmed schedule that changes only when manually adjusted. If a homeowner or gardener forgets to turn off the irrigation in winter, it kicks in even if it's raining. Smart controllers self-adjust and recalculate how much and where and when to water based on a plant's evapotranspiration rate, or ET, which considers environmental factors like weather (rain, freeze, wind, temperature, etc.), plant type, soil type, slope, sun exposure and root depth. So if the rains fail in March, the system kicks in, but if it's pouring in July, it discontinues water until conditions change - without so much as a toe wiggle from you or your gardener. Award-winning landscape architect Michael Thilgen, co-owner of Four Dimensions Landscape in Oakland ( www.fourdimensionslandscape.com), recommends smart controllers to his clients. "Gardeners will learn to love the new smart systems because they take so much of the guesswork out of programming a controller, and it saves a lot of water and time in reprogramming," he says. Which unit to buy? Some homeowners can retrofit their old "unintelligent" unit, thereby saving money. For those shopping from scratch, Jon Bauer, East Bay Municipal Utility District water conservationist, advises: "It is a good idea for consumers to consider the different features offered by the various products on the market. The choice between having an on-site weather station versus an off-site subscription weather service seems like a pretty fundamental difference, but the real difference is in what features the product offers, what it does with that weather data, and how well the customer understands how it works. Above all," he adds, "it is not so much about the controller as how well it is programmed." ... Petaluma's HydroPoint Data Systems offers WeatherTRAK ET Plus, which uses advanced climatologic modeling techniques developed at Penn State, and draws weather data from more than 14,000 stations, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's network. A six-station unit costs $509 plus a subscription fee. HydroPoint shares WeatherTRAK technology with partner Toro, an international supplier of landscape products that also manufactures controllers under subsidiary Irritrol. Toro's Intelli-Sense and Irritrol's SmartDial are each priced at about $230 for six stations plus a subscription fee. All three feature an eight-week scheduling window for infrequent watering of low-water plants, such as California natives. By 2010, smart controllers could be legally required, along with other water-efficiency measures. Water agencies are encouraging their adoption by offering significant rebates. Says EBMUD's Bauer, "The regulatory trend seems to be toward eventually mandating self-adjusting controllers." |
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