Get Smart! With
Your Landscaping
With summer in full swing, the arrival of July often means
vacations, fireworks, and, of course, lawn care. If the dog
days of summer leave you dog-tired, why not let your lawn
worry about itself? Because July is Smart Irrigation Month,
and because it’s also the peak water-use month across
most of the country, there is no better time to learn how
employing smart irrigation technology can help save you water,
time, and money.
Irrigation systems are a great way for people to water their
yard without spending hours wrestling with a hose, but they
can also lead to overwatering. Smart irrigation technologies,
such as soil moisture sensors and weather-based irrigation
controllers, allow for much more efficient watering. During
peak water usage months, conserving your community’s
water supply is especially important, and using efficient
irrigation practices can have a big impact.
Here to help you finetune your outdoor watering for optimum
efficiency are WaterSense irrigation partners. These professionals
have completed a WaterSense labeled program that certifies
their expertise in water-saving technology and techniques.
If homeowners with irrigation systems hired WaterSense irrigation
partners to perform regular maintenance, each household could
reduce irrigation water use by 15 percent. That’s about
9,000 gallons annually—or the amount of water that would
flow from a garden hose if you left it running nonstop for
nearly a whole day.
The map above to the right illustrates where WaterSense irrigation
partners are available to help you transform your time-consuming,
water-guzzling yard into a modern model of efficiency. Find
a nearby irrigation professional and bring specific, valuable
expertise to your project. By hiring a WaterSense irrigation
partner to audit, design, install, or maintain your irrigation
system, you’ll be making a smart investment in the future
of our water supply. |
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One Audit That Shouldn’t
Scare You
For many people, the word “audit” elicits the
same response as, say, a root canal. This summer, however,
an audit for your landscape irrigation system might be one
appointment you won’t want to miss. While water audits
are available for both inside and outside the home, those
for in-ground irrigation systems can lead to tremendous water
savings this time of year.
A water audit is similar to a checkup for your sprinklers.
A qualified professional investigates your new or existing
irrigation system to ensure that it has been designed and
installed to be as efficient as possible. An irrigation auditor
will monitor the timer, valve system, piping, and wiring,
and note where there are deficiencies and where improvements
can be made. The auditor will also analyze the spray zones
over the landscape to verify that water is being evenly distributed
throughout the landscape, and will often review several months
of water bills. The process usually takes one to two hours.
“It really puts the proof in the pudding,” says
Mark Brotton, principal of Living
Waters Irrigation & Landscape, LLC ,
who is a WaterSense irrigation partner and a certified irrigation
auditor. “Don’t just assume [your irrigation system]
will work great,” he continues. A water audit is a safeguard
to verify that you have received a high quality system.
Additionally, a water audit can be the perfect place to start
if you are considering upgrades to your system. Technology
has advanced significantly in the past five years, and an
audit can identify worthwhile upgrades for outdated systems.
As Brotton explains, sprinkler systems require regular maintenance,
just like your car. You wouldn’t drive your car for
three years without changing the oil or recalibrating the
alignment. It’s important to maintain your sprinkler
system in a similar way.
Ways to tell that your system is wasting water include brown
spots in the lawn or higher-than-normal water bills—and,
of course, a geyser in your front yard. However, you should
not wait for these problems to arise before scheduling your
audit. A water audit is necessary preventative maintenance
to guarantee that there are no problems and that you are maximizing
efficiency in your system. Many in-ground irrigation systems
are only about 50 percent efficient. If homeowners follow
the recommendations of the auditor, they can expect up to
a 20 percent improvement in the system’s efficiency;
and when it comes to water, every drop counts. Find
a WaterSense irrigation partner near you. |
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Converting from a traditional
turf landscape to a water-efficient landscape through
proper choice of plants and careful design can reduce
outdoor water use by 20 to 50 percent |
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Green Homes Resist Housing Market Slump
Good
news for green homebuyers, builders, and sellers: while the traditional
homebuilding market remains soft, demand for green homes—and
green plumbing fixtures—is steadily growing across the country.
WaterSense is proud to help lead this market.
Although housing demand is currently on a downswing, a recent McGraw-Hill
Construction study predicts that green home building will generate
between $12 billion and $20 billion in sales in 2008. These numbers
represent a 6 to 10 percent market share that is expected to double
over the next five years. And that’s not all—demand
for WaterSense labeled products could be picking up, too. The same
survey reveals that water-efficient plumbing fixtures are high on
the list of most used green building features, while 81 percent
of builders said that water-efficient toilets and faucets are the
most important water-saving options. In localities such as Santa
Clarita or Riverside County, Calif., where builders must prove that
adequate water supplies exist for new development projects, WaterSense
labeled fixtures can be a critical addition.
In the two years since EPA launched the program, green building
professionals have increasingly turned to WaterSense as a resource
and authority on water efficiency and water-efficient products.
For example, the U.S. Green Building
Council (USGBC)
has incorporated WaterSense into its draft Leadership in Environmental
and Energy-Efficient Design (LEED) rating system for new homes.
Its 2009 LEED guidelines specify WaterSense labeled products to
be used where available to meet the water use reduction requirements.
The ReGreen Guidelines, a set of green remodeling guidelines developed
by the American Society of Interior Designers and USGBC, also encourage
consumers and professional remodelers to consult WaterSense labeled
products lists when looking for plumbing fixtures during home renovation
projects.
To further promote new home construction that is mindful of future
water supplies, WaterSense is developing its own set of criteria.
The recently released draft of the Water-Efficient
Single-Family New Home Specification will combine WaterSense
labeled plumbing fixtures and other water-efficient design features
and appliances, such as dishwashers and clothes washers, to reduce
the amount of water used by approximately 20 percent. The criteria
will cover indoor and outdoor water use in addition to requiring
builders to educate homeowners about their water-efficient new home.
Learn more about the future WaterSense
New Homes program.
Partner Profile: Irrigation Partner Victor Samson
The
WaterSense Current periodically profiles
outstanding WaterSense partners and their achievement in advancing
water efficiency and water-efficient products and practices.
WaterSense partner Victor Samson of Kansas City, Missouri, is a
certified irrigation designer (CID) and certified landscape irrigation
auditor (CLIA) who advocates new technology and education in equal
measure.
His company Samson Irrigation Systems manages and operates a number
of sites—including shopping centers, sports fields, and a
townhouse complex—using smart irrigation technologies that
use weather data to determine whether a lawn or landscape needs
to be watered. These technologies apply water based on weather station
data, gauge how much rainfall the site has received, and monitor
the water flow of each station in the system to detect leaks.
Whenever possible, Samson demonstrates to his customers how much
water and money they are saving by using smart irrigation technologies.
For example, at one townhouse complex where his company installed
a smart controller, a valve malfunctioned only days after a visual
inspection of the irrigation system. The smart controller detected
the leak, shut off, and notified Samson to visit the site, where
he repaired the problem. If the controller had not detected the
broken valve, it probably would not have been noticed for a month
or more. The leak flowed at 54 gallons per minute, and the watering
cycle that night was scheduled to run for 6 hours and 45 minutes.
In a month on this schedule, the leak could have wasted 262,000
gallons of water—equivalent to leaving your garden hose running
for nearly a month—at a cost of approximately $500.
Samson explains the need to balance new technology with conscientious
installation, repair, and maintenance. He says, “As a water
manager, the computer central control with flow sensing gives us
great ability and confidence in properly managing an irrigation
system. But the key is to balance ‘high- tech’ central
control with ‘low-tech’ by putting the head in the ground
properly.”
Stand Up for Water Efficiency
Approximately
80 percent of America’s estimated 12 million urinals are old
and water-wasteful, a problem WaterSense hopes to remedy. In May
2008, EPA issued a notification of
intent to develop specifications for high-efficiency urinals.
Once finalized, the specification would be used to label these fixtures,
making it easier to identify efficient, high-performing urinals
and to capitalize on this tremendous water savings opportunity.
In the notification of intent, EPA has identified preliminary criteria,
as well as technical issues to weigh.
Take a cue from one of your fellow WaterSense Current readers
and try this water-saving tip.
“My neighbor has a front lawn that is on a slight slope.
Every time she irrigates, water runs off onto the sidewalk and into
the gutter. I asked her how long she watered, and she said about
15 minutes. I suggested she adjust her sprinkler timer to water
for four minutes, three times each morning for a total of 12 minutes.
She was afraid that wouldn’t be enough water, but gave it
a try. She reset the timer to come on at 3 a.m., 4 a.m., and 5 a.m.
for four minutes each time. The results are incredible. She says
the lawn looks even better than before, and she is saving nearly
30 gallons per day.”
— Chris Dundon, from Martinez, Calif.
Have a water-saving idea to contribute? E-mail it to the WaterSense
Helpline.
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