Smart Controllers Alone Don’t Save Water
Commercial Landscaping and HOA Landscaping need Water 
Conservation – A Smart Controller is a great tool, but installing one doesn’t mean you’re all set in the water conservation department. There are several components to the irrigation system that must be evaluated before your irrigation system is ready to conserve water. Check out the list below for some helpful tips on achieving water savings.
1. Irrigation sprinkler system design/layout – If your irrigation sprinkler system was designed over 20 years ago, there’s a high probability that your system isn’t very efficient. The sprinkler patterns and types of nozzles available back then were few. The older sprinkler system designs, in most cases, have water overspraying onto driveways, sidewalks, buildings etc. The radius of today’s sprinkler nozzles, however, ranges from 2′ to 40′, so there is much more flexibility for the irrigation sprinkler designer to keep the water contained to the necessary landscaped areas.
There are a lot of older sprinkler systems designed with inadequate coverage and/or low water pressure, causing dry/brown spots in grass areas. When sprinklers are spaced too far apart, they lack “head to head” coverage (that is, each sprinkler sprays onto the adjacent sprinkler). Clearly, when these systems were designed, water conservation wasn’t as important as it is today.
2. Leaks and over-spray - All the existing sprinklers need to be inspected for over-spray, leaks, proper head to head coverage, proper nozzling and spacing. If the spacing is incorrect additional sprinklers may need to be installed to make up for dry areas. Sprinklers spraying onto sidewalks and driveways should be corrected to prevent the water from running down the drain. Make sure all sprinkler wiper seals are working correctly; otherwise water will be leaking out of the seal and running down the gutter. Check all nozzles for sand and other debris from blocking the spray pattern. Make sure turf sprinklers are raised just enough to spray over the grass and still low enough so people won’t trip on the sprinkler.
3. Water runoff – Watering times are important especially on slopes. If you’re running your sprinklers more than 15 minutes on slopes there’s a great probability that the water is running off the slope right into the gutter. This happens when the water is being applied faster than the soil can absorb it. In this case, it’s best to run a ‘cycle and soak’ program. All Smart Controllers have a feature that allows a ‘cycle and soak’ process. This is where the controller is programmed to water for let’s say, 10 minutes, stop for a programmed amount of time (to allow the water to soak into the soil) and then start up again and water for another 10 minutes.
4. All zones aren’t created equal – In the old days we would just set each station for 10 minutes regardless of the water needs for each zone. But, some zones require more water than others. Some grass areas are in shade and others are in direct sun. Some zones are watering grass and others are watering plants. Each zone should be set up to run for the minimum amount of time needed for that zone. I like to cut the water back until the plant material just starts to stress. From this I can get a good feel on how many days to water that zone, once a week, every 3rd day or however many days have lapsed.
5. Watering start times – In Southern California, it’s best to water in the evening. This reduces the evaporation times and allows the water to stay in the soil longer. And since we have such a dry climate, we don’t have to worry about fungus as much as the more humid climates.
6. Backflows and valves - Be sure to have your backflow and valves pressure tested to make sure small leaks aren’t occurring in the mainline while the system is idle. Putting a pressure gauge on your backflow to see if it’s holding ‘tight’ will determine if you have mainline or valve leaks. If you have pressure regulating valves, lower the pressure to what the sprinkler manufacturer recommends as the optimal operational pressure.
7. Controller programming – Observations are a must! Landscape maintenance companies MUST set up the controller correctly and then monitor the system for the first year AND make small adjustments to the programming for optimal water savings. Each Smart Controller has its own special features that help you achieve water efficiency. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how to set each controller up for your area.
So, as you can see, simply installing a Smart Controller isn’t necessarily going to save you money. You also have to make sure your smart controller is operating according to environmental conditions in your area. Once you’ve done this, and if you follow the steps listed above, you are on your way to saving.
For more on irrigation systems, follow this link: Irrigation Association www.irrigation.org/SWAT/
Call me for a free irrigation audit at 888-829-8333 or email me at info@westernlandscapemaintenance.com