My neighbor has begun his summer lawn watering routine. Mid-morning he drags his hose into the front yard and sets up his oscillating sprinkler. It gracefully sprays water into the air as it slowly shifts from side to side. Several hours later he moves the set up across the yard and begins the process again. This repeats several times throughout the day
, as he makes sure that the entire yard gets its share of water. By the end of the day, water is flowing down the street. Each time I watch this, I wonder how many gallons are being used to water the street instead of his grass. Here, in mid Missouri where our water rates are high, that’s an expensive mistake.
According to reports from the EPA, on average, Americans use nearly 9 billion gallons of water per day for outdoor use. Over half is used for lawns and gardens. Of that nearly 5 billion gallons of water, half
is lost to evaporation, wind or run-off. Those lost gallons add up to quite a high economic and environmental cost for all of us, especially as we enter into what appears to be decades of extreme temperatures coupled with devastating drought.
Under normal pressure, an oscillating sprinkler will put out about an inch of water per hour, more than half of which will never actually reach down into the soil to reinvigorate the grass. For a !0,000 square foot lawn that needs about 6,200 gallons of water a week, homeowners still using outdated hoses and sprinklers pay for over 3000 gallons of wasted water each week.
On the other hand, clients who choose to have professionally designed and installed irrigation systems that use the most up-to-date water-efficient technology will save a considerable amount of both water and money, as well as time and effort too.
In order to get a better insight into the benefits of a top-of-the-line irrigation system, I spoke with Nick Novak, the Irrigation Project Manager/Estimator at Embassy Landscape Group. Nick, who has been with Embassy for over eight years, feels strongly about the excellence of Embassy’s water management services.
Nick at a remote access station.
Nick explained that “Embassy uses only Rain Bird equipment for sprinkler heads and Weathermatic controllers
on all of our properties because they have sensors that measure evapotranspiration, or ET loss, daily. (Evapotranspiration is the process by which water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation from the soil and other surfaces and by transpiration from plants.) By using this equipment, Embassy technicians have seamless remote accessibility to our irrigation systems. “
“We are also,” he continued, “making a strong push this year to get all of our irrigation systems set up with weather stations to adjust watering based off evapotranspirstion. We are utilizing flow sensors as much as we can to provide enhanced monitoring of irrigation systems and allowing us to see flow issues in real time. The system alerts technicians to high or low flow issues so they can be quickly addressed and resolved, eliminating the need for frantic phone calls.
Our remote access to the timers through our connected controllers allow us to proactively turn off irrigation before impending rain or freeze events. At the next .JPG)
watering cycle the controller will automatically adjust watering times to ensure that the right amount of water is put back in the landscape. The sensors eliminate the wasteful and often damaging issue of overwatering and the stress on turf that results from underwatering.
We utilize growing technology to help our clients use less water while keeping landscapes healthy. We do this by utilizing pressure regulated heads with low flow nozzles to drastically reduce runoff. Our customers can see up to 30% reduction in water use within their first year through the use of a weather station paired with our proactive rain turn offs.”
Customer service is another area in which Nick feels that Embassy Landscape Group excels. “One of our top new features is being able to provide our customers with detailed inspections for each visit or repair we make. We include pictures of the issue as well as a per zone summary of system performance."
Nick's pride in the irrigation department was evident as he spoke. "Our irrigation service team boasts over 60 years of combined experience in commercial, residential, and golf course irrigation maintenance and installation. There is not
much we have not seen and through our hard work and attention to detail we have helped win contracts with new customers each year.”
With the reality of water shortages on the horizon and water rates rising all over the country, it's time for each of us to do our part to conserve and protect this precious resource. Getting rid of that old sprinkler and adding a new, technologically advanced irrigation system is a great first step in saving water, money and time. The experts at Embassy Landscape Group can help you by designing, installing and maintaining the best system for your particular situation. Give them a call today.
