TECHNOLOGY
I THINK SMART CONTROLLERS ARE AN UNDERUTILIZED PART OF OUR TOOL BELT THAT WE CAN ALL USE A LITTLE MORE, INCLUDING MY TEAM.” – Justin White, K&D Landscaping
“We wanted a controller where we could remotely monitor water usage and the facilities manager could ac- cess water usage reports,” he explains.
Te next step was conducting a full assessment of the existing irrigation system and plantings. Te system had multiple meters, points of connection and control- lers across 210 zones. In some zones, only half the valves worked. Other valves only operated manually. Tat meant the project would not be a quick controller
swap out. Instead, it was a complete irrigation infrastruc- ture upgrade that required installing new wiring, repair- ing wire splices, changing spray head nozzles and transi- tioning some zones to low-volume drip irrigation. “Tere were some curveballs throughout the project,
and we were able to get everything up and running,” White says. “Everything is working great now, but there were some challenges we didn’t expect.” One of the biggest challenges was making valves func- tional that hadn’t worked in three or four years. In addi-
tion, the system had countless leaks that required repairs and upgrades. White says it took nearly four weeks to un- wind what White described as a hodgepodge to get the system functioning properly. “Once we got everything up and running, we realized
that the Wi-Fi connectivity was not great all over the property,” he says. “Some controllers were not receiving the resort’s Wi-Fi signal.” Tey chose to use wireless hotspots for the control- lers out of the Wi-Fi range. While this client is accus- tomed to having tourists access their internet service, some commercial properties are concerned about cyber- security. So, the hotspots can also be an alternative for clients with stricter internet security protocols as it is not linked to the internet connection used for business operations.
Once the system was fully functional, the team dis-
covered that the fixes created the opposite impact they were striving for.
“We quickly realized that some
areas were not really getting a lot of water that should have gotten water. So, (with the repairs) we were actually putting more water out as far as the volume of square footage because we fixed things,” White says. “Tat quickly became a challenge around the promise to save water.”
Te team was forced to get
Inside one year, K&D Landscaping’s upgrade and redesign of the irrigation system and landscaping at the Seaside Resort saved the client 1 million gallons of water for a 30% cost savings. Photos: K&D Landscaping
12 Irrigation & Lighting June 2023
technical on programming the controller to ensure they could water a greater square footage area while reducing total water usage. First, White’s team used the new- ly installed weather system to measure the site’s evapotranspira- tion rates and determine precisely how much water was necessary. Ten, they used the data to make weekly scheduling adjustments on the controller. “In previous years, the control- lers operated on a seasonal basis where they would be turned on in the spring and maybe adjust- ed once or twice throughout the summer. But basically, they ran for a set rate of time all year,” he says. Te smart controllers were central to decreasing water con- sumption, but the project includ- ed several changes. For example,
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