People often wonder if investing in an irrigation system is worth it in terms of sustainability, and the answer is YES!
The term irrigation simply means to supplement the watering of plants, grass etc. above what they would receive from rainwater. So, watering your garden with your hose or oscillating lawn sprinkler are technically irrigation. However, they are not sustainable forms of irrigation as they result in water run-off, evaporation, erosion, and under and overwatering.
Sustainable irrigation requires some investment and thought into smart industry practices to maximize the efficiency of your water usage and minimize water wastage.
Smart Irrigation
Smart irrigation or smart watering is the best way to sustainably optimize your irrigation system. It utilizes the power of data collection to determine the correct amount of water usage to maintain a healthy landscape. There are several ways to incorporate smart techniques into your system:
Smart controllers use weather data, and other factors such as soil type, plant type, ground slope, sun and shade levels, and irrigation system type (spray head, rotor, drip) to optimize run times and watering intervals. This maintains the correct amount of water in the root-zone of your plants, minimizing run-off, pooling, and under and overwatering.
Smart controllers adapt to the changing climate and water requirements from plants to maintain a constant level of water within your garden’s soil or root-zone. It does this by using its Wi-Fi connection to gather data from weather stations in your area. So, when it’s going to rain, the smart timer will delay or cancel watering, but if your area is subject to a heat wave it will increase your system’s water usage to ensure the health of your garden ecosystem.
Recommended smart controllers (control your irrigation from your phone with the B-hyve app):
- B-hyve Pro HRC-400
- B-hyve Hose Bib Timer – requires Wi-Fi hub to enable smart watering features.
Weather Sensors are a great tool to use in conjunction with non-smart types of irrigation controllers. When mounted in a suitable position where it will be exposed to full sun or rain (not under a tree or house eve) it will relay information to your irrigation controller and delay it from watering when it’s raining. This saves your system from watering unnecessarily during rain events.
Your irrigation controller must have a sensor port to support a weather sensor, which most controllers have, however they are not brand specific.
Recommended weather sensor:
Drip Irrigation Systems
Drip irrigation is considered the most sustainable type of irrigation at 95% efficient due to its direct watering design, absorption rates and pressure compensating equipment. Drip irrigation delivers water slowly and directly to the root base of a plant one drop at a time, rather than spraying over the plant, optimizing the soils absorption rate. This eliminates disruptions from wind, and overspray. It also mitigates evaporation, run-off, and under and overwatering.
Pressure Regulation
Pressure regulation is a great way to upgrade an existing system. Non-regulated heads can easily be replaced with pressure regulating heads. These heads ensure that the water spraying is at a consistent psi throughout your irrigation system. This minimizes misting and higher evaporation rates from too high a pressure rating and maintains the optimal water distribution as intended.
Spray irrigation systems are definitely more sustainable than hand watering your garden, running at about 70% efficiency. Using pressure regulation parts and equipment is a great way to upgrade existing spray systems.
Common parts with pressure regulating options:
- Pop-up spray heads
- Rotors
- Drip irrigation
Recommended pressure regulating pop-up spray heads: HRS200 Series
Blu-Lock®
Blu-Lock® pipe and fittings are another way to increase the sustainability of your system, especially for new installations. Blu-lock pipe is flexible and 100% recyclable HDPE pipe. It also uses push-fittings which eliminates the need for harmful chemicals such as glue and primer, unlike traditional PVC pipe. Blu-Lock fittings are removable and reusable allowing you to easily adjust the configuration of your system without having to cut out fittings and pipe. This also makes pipe repairs fast and easy.