Weather-Based Irrigation Controllers
In many parts of the country, particularly the drought-plagued West, adequate water supply is an increasing challenge. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, residential outdoor water use, primarily for landscape irrigation, accounts for some 9 billion gallons of water each day. More critically, their experts estimate that about 50 percent of that irrigation water is wasted, due to overwatering and other inefficiencies in the way we water, and the systems we use to deliver that water.
The good news is that a new generation of “smart” irrigation components has come into the residential market. Once developed, and largely reserved, for large public sites such as golf courses and municipal parks, these systems have the clear ability to impact for the better home irrigation.
Chief among the new technology is the weather-based irrigation controller, or WBIC as it is known. Controllers turn the irrigation system on and off through a series of electronic signals. The WBIC uses real weather information as well as particular site conditions to determine when and how much to water. This approach contrasts sharply with the typical controller most homeowners use, which have fixed settings for day, time, and number of minutes to water, which often can lead to the wasteful anomaly of sprinklers blasting during a rain storm.
WBICs range in sophistication from controllers that simply click off in the rain to ones that process a great number of data variables per watering zone. Some can be added on to, or plugged into, existing timer systems. Other devices can be mounted onto existing electrical wiring in a garage or other outdoor spot. Many can be programmed through panel prompts of varying complexity. The most advanced can be programmed and monitored from the home computer, tablet or Iphone. Prices range accordingly, but a good WBIC with panel programming can be purchase for around $200.
WBICs function by evaluating real-time conditions to adjust watering times, either for sprinkler systems or drip irrigation. The key factor is the amount of evapotranspiration that has occurred, a technical calculation that is defined as the amount of moisture that is released naturally by the plants–transpiration–coupled with the amount of moisture that has evaporated from the soil due to sun and air. There are two types of controllers: sensor-based, with data from an on-site sensor sometimes coupled with preprogrammed historic data; or signal-based, with information about prevailing weather conditions sent from one or more local weather stations through a variety of modes, including cable, web, telephone and radio systems.
As the WBIC receives the current information, it uses it to modify the watering schedule established when the device is installed. This baseline programming registers specific details about each watering zone, or station. Depending on the model, a WBIC will ask you to select for each zone the type of plant, soil type, sun/shade exposure, percentage of slope. Some will delve deeper. For example, selecting “lawn” may bring up the further prompt asking for the depth of the lawn. The WBIC will also ask more general questions, such as what time of day you want to water, which days per week, and how many minutes. From this baseline, the WBIC will adjust watering times accordingly depending on conditions.
WBICs can be retrofitted to any existing sprinkler or drip system. When combined with other new “smart” irrigation components, such as the highly efficient rotator sprinkler head that delivers streams of water in a rotating fashion that improves penetration and eliminates runoff, watering the garden will no longer be an exercise in wasting limited resources.
The good news is that a new generation of “smart” irrigation components has come into the residential market. Once developed, and largely reserved, for large public sites such as golf courses and municipal parks, these systems have the clear ability to impact for the better home irrigation.
Chief among the new technology is the weather-based irrigation controller, or WBIC as it is known. Controllers turn the irrigation system on and off through a series of electronic signals. The WBIC uses real weather information as well as particular site conditions to determine when and how much to water. This approach contrasts sharply with the typical controller most homeowners use, which have fixed settings for day, time, and number of minutes to water, which often can lead to the wasteful anomaly of sprinklers blasting during a rain storm.
WBICs range in sophistication from controllers that simply click off in the rain to ones that process a great number of data variables per watering zone. Some can be added on to, or plugged into, existing timer systems. Other devices can be mounted onto existing electrical wiring in a garage or other outdoor spot. Many can be programmed through panel prompts of varying complexity. The most advanced can be programmed and monitored from the home computer, tablet or Iphone. Prices range accordingly, but a good WBIC with panel programming can be purchase for around $200.
WBICs function by evaluating real-time conditions to adjust watering times, either for sprinkler systems or drip irrigation. The key factor is the amount of evapotranspiration that has occurred, a technical calculation that is defined as the amount of moisture that is released naturally by the plants–transpiration–coupled with the amount of moisture that has evaporated from the soil due to sun and air. There are two types of controllers: sensor-based, with data from an on-site sensor sometimes coupled with preprogrammed historic data; or signal-based, with information about prevailing weather conditions sent from one or more local weather stations through a variety of modes, including cable, web, telephone and radio systems.
As the WBIC receives the current information, it uses it to modify the watering schedule established when the device is installed. This baseline programming registers specific details about each watering zone, or station. Depending on the model, a WBIC will ask you to select for each zone the type of plant, soil type, sun/shade exposure, percentage of slope. Some will delve deeper. For example, selecting “lawn” may bring up the further prompt asking for the depth of the lawn. The WBIC will also ask more general questions, such as what time of day you want to water, which days per week, and how many minutes. From this baseline, the WBIC will adjust watering times accordingly depending on conditions.
WBICs can be retrofitted to any existing sprinkler or drip system. When combined with other new “smart” irrigation components, such as the highly efficient rotator sprinkler head that delivers streams of water in a rotating fashion that improves penetration and eliminates runoff, watering the garden will no longer be an exercise in wasting limited resources.
mixed use
Q