SWAT
As demand for water continues to rise, water districts throughout the country have stepped up their efforts to find effective and innovative ways to help their customers reduce outdoor water use. The greatest potential in reducing outdoor water consumption is in residential and small commercial markets. Irrigation manufacturers—both visionary start-ups and industry giants—have introduced a wide range of new, “smart” irrigation controllers for use in these landscape applications.
Now our goal is to get the word out—to landscape contractors, distributors, new home developers, landscape architects, irrigation specifiers and home and business owners—and facilitate the change from traditional sprinkler timers to “smart” irrigation technologies.
But to get the job done, we need your help.
How irrigation manufacturers can help
The SWAT committee needs financial support from members of the irrigation community and other green industry professionals whose business and livelihood would be affected by residential water shortages and restrictions. Irrigation manufacturers are a critical part of this equation.
About SWAT
The Smart Water Application Technologies SWAT committee is a first of its kind coalition of water agencies, equipment manufacturers and irrigation contractors, created specifically to encourage outdoor irrigation efficiency and water conservation through highly efficient, advanced products and practices.
What are Smart Water Application Technologies?
Smart Water Application Technologies—beginning with “smart” irrigation controllers and expanding in the near future to include other third-party conservation tested irrigation products—provide a new, proven and effective means to help achieve outdoor water use efficiency.
Unlike traditional controllers, which are really just timers, “smart” controllers work by monitoring and using information about site conditions (such as soil moisture, rain, wind, slope, soil, plant type, and more), and applying the right amount of water based on those factors—not too much and not too little—to maintain healthy growing conditions.
“Smart” irrigation has an extensive history of scientific and field documentation. Golf courses, parks and athletic departments have used climate-based irrigation systems for more than 20 years. “Smart” controllers for smaller applications have become available more recently, and field testing has proven they can successfully reduce outdoor water use—by as much as 20%-40% annually—while maintaining, and often enhancing, the health and beauty of the landscape.
Information fromt the SWAT Web Site: http://www.irrigation.org/SWAT/Industry/