Landscape Management, January 2012
The Green Industry has a smart way to save a little green and blue LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET JANUARY 2012 40 PHOTO COURTESY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ELIMINATING WASTE CHANGING THE WAY WE IRRIGATE WITH WaterSense BY STEPHANIE TANNER U S ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY EPA When water supplies are tight and municipalities are scrambling to find solutions its often easy to target local landscapes with watering restrictions Nationwide residential outdoor water use exceeds 7 billion gallons of water each day most of which is used for landscape irrigation Experts estimate that as much as half of this water goes to waste due to evaporation wind and improperly scheduled irrigation systems But with smart irrigation technologies on the rise there may be a better way to water using Mother Nature as a guide Look for the label EPA created the WaterSense label in 2006 to help consumers find products that save water and perform well To date more than 4000 models of plumbing products have earned the label Working with more than 2000 utility manufacturer retailer distributor and irrigation professional partners WaterSense has helped consumers save 125 billion gallons of water and 2 billion in utility bills over the past five years With the release of its final WaterSense Specification for Weather Based Irrigation Controllers EPA opens the program to the first outdoor watering product eligible to earn the label Weatherbased controllers use real time local climatological data to schedule irrigation Once properly installed these controllers can do the thinking for homeowners and facility managers in terms of when and how much to water outdoors The WaterSense specification covers stand alone controllers add on devices or plug in devices in residential and commercial applications WaterSense labeled irrigation controllers must be tested and certified to meet performance requirements based on the Smart Water Application Technologies SWAT protocol SWAT includes performance measures of irrigation adequacy and irrigation excess which measure how well the system meets plant water needs without overwatering The specification also requires supplemental capabilities such as the ability to change irrigation schedules to accommodate local watering restrictions and the ability to connect to a rainfall device EPA has held various working groups conducted independent research and worked with numerous experts to determine the appropriate performance characteristics and testing protocols to ensure WaterSenselabeled controllers provide sufficient irrigation to promote plant health and meet the needs of landscape managers and utilities trying to reduce water waste
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