www.landscapeirrigation.com Landscape and Irrigation October 2014 15
GRAPHICS
PROVIDED
BY
MILO,
LOCAL
SHOPPING.
Irrigation technology, like all other technology, has continued to
evolve and improve over the years. Just like our cell phones, tab-
lets and automobiles, the new strides in "smart" technology have
consumed the market, and have become the new standard in all
industries, including landscape irrigation. Gone are the days of
flipping open a Thomas Guide to find directions to a site, or driv-
ing in reverse without a backup camera. And now we are finally
seeing the departure of the beloved irrigation controller timers
or clocks as they are called. Beloved because what could have
been simpler; you just eyeball a site, guess an irrigation time, and
you were all set. What is amazing is how accurate some people
were, but no matter how well a job some did, more weren't; and
to make matters worse, no one had the time to run around and
adjust controllers as the weather changed. All of which paved the
way for smart controllers.
While the main demand for smarter irrigation has always
been to combat water scarcity, once landscape managers started
to look at outdoor water management, they quickly realized that
overwatering was wasting more than just water. Aside from ex-
cessively high water bills, overwatered landscapes were resulting
in significant structural and plant damage, increased liabilities,
and exposure to fines and compliance violations. Combined, this
brought a major change to the industry, and has started a new era
where water waste is no longer socially, economically or environ-
mentally sustainable.
First, let's review a bit of history. When smart controllers were
first introduced to the irrigation industry, they focused on apply-
ing the right amount of water to the right place at the right times.
The dream was that one could install a smart controller, set the
controller to the "smart" setting, and, like magic, the site would
instantly transform from water waster to water saver. The reality,
however, was a bit more complicated. Although the first genera-
tion of smart controllers proved that weather-based irrigation was
an improvement over a simple timer, the results were not as con-
sistent as desired. These original smart controllers contained basic
one-way communication in which the controller received weather
data, and the smart controller's "intelligence" would then water as
needed. But what about the rest of the picture? What if something
The Evolution of Information
Technologies Driving Smart
Water Management
www.landscapeirrigation.com Landscape and Irrigation January/February 2016 15
■ BY CHRIS SPAIN
IRRIGATION AND WATER MANAGEMENT
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PHOTOS
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