IRRIGATION
necessarily maintain,” Sutton-Jensen says. “Mismatched sprinklers, broken sprinklers, misaligned sprinklers, heads spraying on an angle — those things all have to be repaired and fixed before a full audit.” Once issues are fixed, Sutton-Jensen says a full irriga- tion audit will include taking pressure readings, checking all nozzles, checking sprinkler types and reviewing every station on the controller to make sure it is operating as it should. A full audit will also determine distribution unifor- mity and precipitation rates, two key factors in determining irrigation schedules. Native cacti or succulents should be watered at a dif-
ferent rate than an ornamental shrub or tree, but Sutton- Jensen says most homeowners don’t have the knowledge to properly program controllers. “A lot of the information going into smart controllers is information you get from doing an audit,” Sutton-Jensen says. “Tose are only as good as the information put into them. Garbage in, garbage out. You can’t save money or water if it isn’t programmed properly.”
Making the most of a system
As systems age, they are destined to require maintenance and adjustment. Because irrigation audits uncover leaks and inefficiencies in an irrigation system, they often trans- late directly to dollar savings. While much of the savings comes from using less water,
there is also a savings that results from keeping plant ma- terial healthy. “When controllers are programmed, you aren’t account- ing for the maturity of a plant,” Sutton-Jensen says. “A plant is getting bigger but someone isn’t paying attention to adjusting the watering device, and the plant dies, or growth is restricted because it doesn’t have enough water.” Although there is no set rule on how frequently audits should be performed, Sutton-Jensen says it makes sense to visually inspect irrigation systems with season changes, which correlates with changing the settings on controllers. In climates where irrigation systems are exposed to bru- tal cold and sprinkler heads get broken or moved by heavy snow or snowplow trucks, Maldonado says it is especially important to inspect the system when repressurizing it in the spring. “Every year something breaks in the winter, so it’s im-
portant to do inspections if you want to keep the system functioning properly,” Maldonado says. As an irrigation auditor, Alvarez says that he is an unbi-
ased third party who has no relationship to the contractors on-site, which means he is in the ideal position to point out inefficiencies in design or installation. Tat separation gives auditors the ability to see the sys- tem for what it looks like at the time, including its flaws, says Sutton-Jensen. Besides, a fresh set of eyes is always helpful on any project. “We don’t have money invested because we didn’t install or design the system,” she says. “We come in, we do our job, we tell you like it is. At the end of the day, we are there to fix the problem.” For older systems, an irrigation audit might also result in some recommendations to support water conservation.
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“If the system is big enough to put a rain sensor on, that is something we would suggest to help a client save some water,” Maldonado says. “We would also suggest a smart controller to save some water, if a client doesn’t have one.”
A partnership
It makes sense that irrigation auditors and irrigation con- tractors or designers might be at odds, as auditors are tasked with revealing issues or inefficiencies in a system. “Some contractors want to do the work, get paid and
leave as fast as possible,” Alvarez says. “If you have a good auditor, it is extremely helpful. I am really thorough with the system and I can tell if the contractor did a good job or a bad job.” However, that knowledge and attention to detail can
also prove extremely valuable to those contractors and de- signers who choose to welcome it. While it doesn’t account for a large portion of her com-
pany’s business, Sutton-Jensen says that as a certified land- scape irrigation auditor, she has consulted with landscape architects and irrigation designers to ensure that systems will work as designed. “We have gone over blueprints before the system was
installed, and in the long run, it saves so much money to look at blueprints before paying contractors to install them,” she says. “With a set of plans early enough, we can catch major mistakes before it even gets installed.” Tough she acknowledges that some contractors may
look at irrigation auditors as a threat to their credibility, Sutton-Jensen doesn’t view her role in that way. “We aren’t out there trying to make everybody look
bad,” she says. “We want to be a valuable resource for them to help them because our bottom line is we want to save water, save our precious resource.”
Lauren Sable Freiman is a freelance writer based in Cleveland and can be reached at
laurensable@gmail.com.
November 2023 Irrigation & Lighting 23
While much of the savings comes from using less water, there is also a savings that results from keeping plant material healthy.
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