Smart irrigation does so much more than just helping to cut down your irrigation costs. Concerns over water scarcity and the landscaping health benefits of efficient irrigation are also making property owners take a closer look at smart irrigation.
Are you curious about how smart systems lower costs and reduce water waste on commercial properties? Partly through innovative sensors we’ll discuss in detail in this article. Another key aspect are the real-time adjustments, without manual human intervention, that produce major benefits, like the ones outlined in the following case study.
University Research Park: Their investment in smart irrigation technology paid for itself within the first season. The Research Park saved 25 million gallons of water and $120,000 on water bills across 55 acres of landscaped gree spaces.
As impressive as those savings are, we think you’ll find even more evidence in this article that smart irrigation is a necessity for today’s commercial properties. If you’re facing utility bills that continue to climb, and water utilization compliance is getting trickier, even if you’re in an area not known for drought, then continue reading. We’re here to help.
What’s ahead in this article:
- How Smart Irrigation Works
- Proven Smart Irrigation Technologies for Water Conservation
- Cost Savings and ROI of Smart Irrigation Systems
- Evaluating Your Property for Upgrading to Smart Irrigation
How Smart Irrigation Works: Technologies that Drive Efficiency
Property managers and owners are often surprised at the amount of water they can save through smart irrigation because they’re unaware of the three-pronged approach to preventing water waste that the technology uses. Smart irrigation uses these three elements to create a water saving plan for your property’s landscape:
- Real-time data
- Efficiency-focused design
Automation removes the manual labor required to schedule and adjust irrigation system settings. Manual adjustments slow the process of optimizing water use, while decreasing precision.
Real-time data, such as soil moisture and weather conditions, is fed into smart irrigation systems so they can adjust watering levels immediately. Plants benefit by avoiding both under watering and overwatering.
Finally, efficiency-focused design aims to avoid wasted water through evaporation, runoff, or inefficient spray patterns. That’s why drip irrigation, at the base of your plants, is a key feature that ensures plant roots receive water directly, further lowering irrigation costs.
Proven Smart Irrigation Technologies for Water Conservation
Now let’s look at four of today’s top technologies leading the charge in water conservation. It all begins with innovative sensors.
#1 Rain Sensors: Preventing Unnecessary Watering
How do rain sensors save water in irrigation?
Rain sensors detect precipitation and automatically pause scheduled irrigation schedules, ensuring systems don’t operate during or immediately after rainfall, conserving water, and preventing overwatering.
Although the process can seem technical, rain sensors simply send a signal to the system’s control box to “not water” once the sensors accumulate a set amount of rainfall. There are wired rain sensors, which are more cost-effective and usually need less maintenance. There are also wireless sensors, which naturally offer flexibility in initial placement and can easily be relocated if needed.
Sensors come in a couple of other categories too:
- On-site rain sensors are installed on the property, collecting real-time weather data as it happens on the site. The main advantage is immediate, accurate data.
- Signal-based sensors get their weather data from external sources, like local weather stations. The main advantage to signal-based sensors is not needing to install and maintain the sensors on your property.
Regardless of the sensor type, the benefits are impressive:
- Reduced irrigation costs for property owners
- Prevents oversaturating landscape elements
- Avoids under-watering plants and trees
- Reduces wasted natural resources
- Adheres to sustainability initiatives
#2 Rotary Spray Nozzles: Reducing Runoff and Improving Absorption
Modern rotary spray nozzles offer a win-win for property owners and managers. They deliver water slowly, which is ideal for soil to absorb water, while reducing the potential for wasteful runoff. Of course, your landscaping provider should ensure each irrigation zone is set up for success.
With this approach, you want to avoidt the wrong mix of plant materials in a single zone together. Various plant species have different water requirements and mixing them in the same zone will lead to some plants getting too much moisture as others will receive too little.
This common mistake both wastes water and leads to unhealthy plants, negating the benefits you were hoping to achieve in the first place.
What are the benefits of rotary spray nozzles?
- Ideal for large commercial green spaces
- Promotes proper moisture absorption in the soil
- Precision watering helps avoid plant stress that can lead to dying plants
- Helps fend off disease and weeds
- Avoids water waste from runoff
- Highly adjustable output (can vary the arc and spray distance without tools)
- Large droplets are more wind-resistant (results in precision watering)
#3 ET Sensors & Smart Controllers: Adjusting Irrigation Based on Real-Time Weather
Evapotranspiration (ET) sensors are a cutting-edge irrigation technology. It’s impressive enough that these sensors accurately monitor humidity, temperature, wind, and rainfall. But then they use that data to calculate the resulting water lost by plants and soil due to these environmental factors.
Smart irrigation controllers are then triggered by the ET sensors to automatically adjust irrigation schedules. This means, even pop-up thunderstorms or heavy winds that seem to come out of the blue can be adjusted by your smart irrigation system in the moment, using these sensors.
ET sensors and smart controllers work in tandem to keep your commercial landscape properly watered. But these following benefits tell the full story:
- Minimizes the need for manual system adjustments
- Simplifies local water regulation compliance
- Conserves water, improving brand image via sustainability efforts
- Financial savings through reduced water bills and irrigation costs
- Improved turf, plant, and tree health means reduced replacement costs
#4 Master Valves & Flow Sensors: Detecting Leaks and Preventing Major Water Waste
What role do master valves and flow sensors play in preventing water waste?
Master valves control the main water supply, shutting off flow in case of detected leaks. Flow sensors monitor water usage and identify irregularities, enabling prompt responses to leaks or system malfunctions—preventing significant water loss.
Typically installed after the backflow device, master valves are connected to the irrigation controller. As for flow sensors, they monitor in real-time, 24/7, and can detect the following:
- Breaks
- Leaks
- System malfunctions
These critical irrigation system elements are a property owner’s best ally in defending against major water waste and damage. Undetected leaks would otherwise waste hundreds or thousands of gallons of water. Not only would that skyrocket the water bill, but is likely to damage sections of your landscape.
Further, master valves and flow sensors mean your irrigation system will hold up longer by avoiding issues like excess water pressure and erratic fluctuations. Then there are also the reduced irrigation costs through efficient system operation to consider. A smart irrigation system gives itself constant “check-ups” that help prevent major problems.
Many Yellowstone Landscape customers have even found smart irrigation makes it easier to stay within local water conservation guidelines (which often gives them the bonus of rebates and incentives).
So let’s explore the ROI around your investment in smart irrigation.
Cost Savings and ROI of Smart Irrigation Systems
The following case study paints a great picture for the return on investment possible with smart irrigation systems.
An independent study in Northwest Arkansas, an area known for fluctuating rainfall from year to year, examined add-on rain sensors and soil moisture sensors and found that they reduced annual water use by an average of 22.1% and 66.2%, respectively over three years. The average ROI was estimated to be 87% for rain sensors and 200% for soil moisture sensors within the first year of installation.
And it isn’t only your water utility bill costs that will go down. Depending on your property’s size, your energy costs can also be reduced by an energy-efficient irrigation system. According to the Irrigation Association, utilizing smart irrigation and adhering to industry best practices can achieve up to 30% energy savings.
And with modern systems, you'll have less worry about maintenance and repairs since the system doesn’t run constantly. Remember, these systems are designed for efficiency, not just for more precise watering, but to reduce the run time of the system itself.
The long-term irrigation savings with newer, smart irrigation systems are substantial compared to traditional systems:
- Up to half of all outdoor water use is wasted due to inefficient irrigation methods and systems (per EPA findings).
- Chances of landscape damage rise drastically with no leak detection in outdated systems (for example, costs to replace turf areas damaged by overwatering can be up to $4.50 per square foot).
Evaluating Your Property for Upgrading to Smart Irrigation
Ready to select the smart irrigation system best suited for your specific property and needs? Let’s take it step by step.
- Evaluate your landscape into sections. Consider the varying water needs of turf, flower beds, trees, and shrubs.
- Consider the growth stage of each of the above property sections.
- Ask your provider about micro-climates that can affect watering needs.
- Consider your water source options (i.e., municipal water, well, or rain harvesting system).
- Compare smart irrigation system features like smart controllers, rain sensors, and soil moisture sensors.
- Choose between on-site and signal-based sensors.
- Decide on wireless vs. wired sensors to fit your property needs.
- Consider your property size and layout to match the right system to optimize efficiency and give you flexibility for potential property changes in the future.
If you already have an irrigation system in place, you’re probably curious as to how well it’s performing. The best way to find out is by getting a water audit. A water audit will identify leaks, inefficiencies, and points where water is being wasted.
Think of a water audit like a vehicle tune-up that improves fuel efficiency and prevents major breakdowns later on. Regular audits are a must if your goals include saving on irrigation costs, protecting water resources, and avoiding replacement of over or under-watered plants.
As you consider upgrading to a smart irrigation system or optimizing your current system, our team at Yellowstone Landscape is here to help. With years of experience in irrigation and an industry-leading sustainability knowledge base, we can guide you through the process and ensure you stay ahead of future water compliance challenges. Contact us today.
Conclusion
Smart irrigation is one of the most exciting development areas in modern landscape care. As you’ve learned, these innovative systems can positively impact property owners’ budgets. Utility bill savings are just the tip of the iceberg. Millions of gallons of water could be saved annually if all properties moved to smart irrigation systems and sustainable practices.
And with precision watering, property owners and managers don’t have the worries of improper water volumes threatening the health of valuable landscape elements. You can avoid the expense of replacing unhealthy plants, while enhancing your landscape’s curb appeal with healthy, vibrant, well-watered landscape features.
These new irrigation technologies continue to evolve resulting in more attractive, resilient landscapes while making sustainability goals easier to achieve. Knowing which technologies are the best fit for your particular property is the most important part of the equation.
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