Homeowners Opt for Smart Irrigation Systems to Save Money, Water, and the Planet

June 4, 2019 – Please welcome Elaine Thompson, a digital journalist whose work has been featured in numerous online publications including VentureBeat, Women’s Health Magazine, and PopSugar. Her writing focuses primarily on sustainability and security at home and in the workplace. In this contribution, she talks about 21stcentury water conservation technologies available to every homeowner who loves a green lawn and a garden full of flowers and home-grown produce. With climate change, freshwater resources are of growing concern to countries around the planet. Marshaling technologies that can help manage water better at a personal level is a good way to contribute personally to a sustainable future. As always your comments and questions are welcomed.

If wasteful human habits don’t change, the world’s freshwater supply could be in danger. A 2018 United Nations report posited that “if the natural environment continues to be degraded and unsustainable pressures put on global water resources, 45% of the global gross domestic product, 52% of the world’s population and 40% of global grain production will be put at risk by 2050.”

Currently, Americans use billions of gallons of water per day with a large amount going to sustain lawns and gardens, of which up to half is wasted due to inefficient irrigation systems. But it is possible to live more mindfully and sustainably. With a sensitivity to eco-friendliness, however, and a tendency to be among the earliest adopters of new technology, millennials are leading the way to find ways to reduce residential water waste. This makes sense considering millennials, who are now in their 20s and 30s, are in the process of buying their first homes, putting decisions around smart, economical technology use front and center. What might that mean in terms of water conservation? Switching from a manual irrigation method to a smart system that can be synched to other smart home systems. Of course, millennials aren’t the only one taking advantage of smart residential water systems. Anyone determined to change his or her impact on the planet can explore these cutting-edge ways to reduce water use, save money, and preserve precious resources for generations to come.

What Makes Smart Irrigation Systems Smart?

Practically speaking, smart irrigation systems are designed to solve the inefficiencies and waste inherent in traditional methods of watering. Hand-watering with a hose, among the least economical and effective methods of irrigation, was long ago improved upon by the development of sprinkler systems connected to programmable controllers. 

Now, smart irrigation controllers offer more than just the convenience of preset watering schedules. They actively use weather station data like temperature, and humidity,  and moisture data from sensors buried in the root zone of plants to make real-time adjustments to these schedules. Other technologies that work with smart controllers to maximize water efficiency include flow sensors, which shut down water flow to broken sprinkler heads, and rain or freeze sensors, which halt irrigation in cold weather conditions.

The positive impacts of smart systems are significant. The Environmental Protection Agency surmised that if every American household that currently uses a programmed watering system switched to a smart irrigation controller, 100 billion fewer gallons of water would be wasted on lawns and gardens each year.

Which Watering Systems Work Best with Smart Controllers?

Smart controllers can be added to many types of watering systems, though as water-wise homeowners move away from lawns, the need for systems that water such large expanses dwindles. Sprinkler systems were meant to be used in large, flat landscaped areas, though they have become common in large gardens. Designed to water an area evenly they don’t discriminate among plants with some that need less water getting too much, while others that need more water, getting too little. And then there is the spray that lands on concrete walkways and patios, producing runoff which can carry fertilizer or pollutants into storm drains and nearby bodies of water.

Drip irrigation systems, on the other hand, target the right amount of water for every plantr saving dramatically on water costs although they initially are more expensive to install. Micro-sprayers or bubblers, a variant on the drip concept, can deliver water very slowly and directly to the soil with little moisture lost to evaporation or runoff. A smart controller working with both of these systems increases efficiency and lowers water use and operational costs. 

Because both systems make use of smart controllers and sensors, the decision on which to use is dependent on the area and type of plants being watered. Reducing water-intensive landscaping and then treating smaller, productive garden areas with low-waste drip systems and smart sensors is ideal, but taking any steps toward a more efficient solution—by making a less-efficient sprinkler system smarter, for example—is better than taking no action at all.

Reusing Gray Water with Smart Irrigation Systems

Gray water systems capture household water after use so that it can be repurposed to water lawns and gardens. While capturing this used water from bathroom sinks and showers, and from washing machines, can be very water-wise, the presence of contaminants requires gray water systems to include the installation of proper filtration. There are gray water systems on the market that make water filtration and use easier, some of which can be connected to a smart controller to save money, and keep gray water out of local sewer or septic systems.

More Motivation for Change

Without change on both an individual and societal level, evidence indicates that world stores of usable freshwater could be in danger. Furthermore, if the demand for clean, potable water continues to grow unchecked, energy expenditures to clean and deliver that water will also grow, contributing to further warming of the planet. In turn, extreme weather events point to water-based disasters increasing in the coming decades. We are already seeing flooding, the most common natural disaster on the increase in the United States, and as mountain glaciers and ice caps melt, the threat will only grow larger.

The looming freshwater crisis may seem too big for one household to make a difference, but through small steps, by many, we can collectively make a dent in demand. For further incentive to explore how to conserve water in the home, July is Smart Irrigation Month, so there’s no better time than now to protect this most vital of our planet’s resources.