TECHNOLOGY


ing, Bellevue, Washington. “If the moisture gets to a certain threshold, it will shut everything down. It’s a great on-off switch basically, but it is an effective tool to be able to help manage moisture levels within your soils.” Sensors can be used in several ways, ex-


plains Brian Vinchesi, CGIA, CIC, CID, CLIA, CLIM, CLWM, founder and president of Irrigation Consulting Inc., Nashua, New Hampshire. One way is to use sensors as a safety. When


an area hits a certain amount of moisture, the irrigation system shuts off. Another way requires the purchasing of an


irrigation controller that can handle inputs. While more expensive, the smarter system goes beyond reacting to soil moisture and can mea- sure the soil moisture and provide feedback. A user can program when they want irrigation to turn on when the soil has reached a certain dryness or to shut off when it reaches a certain wetness. “Te more sophisticated it becomes and the


more information it gives the controller and the operator, the more precise they can be with the water,” Vinchesi says. “It just makes irrigat- ing smarter, and when you’re smarter, you use less water.”


Meter pitfalls


Te largest issue Santos sees with soil moisture meters is landscape professionals having a poor understanding of soils. “Being able to interpret the readings pro-


vided by moisture meters isn’t rocket science, but it’s not intuitive either,” Santos says. “Most beginners think a moisture meter reading of 35% is low, but in a clay loam soil, it’s actually very close to field capacity.”


Another pitfall is that clients can be under the belief that moisture meters will be “the sil- ver bullet” to managing an irrigation system efficiently, Santos adds. “Even though moisture meters are good at


helping you determine when is the next time to water, they don’t tell you how much to wa- ter,” Santos says. To figure out the amount of water needed,


Santos says a user must know the precipitation rate of the system, the soil intake rate and the point where runoff occurs. A moisture meter can then be used following an irrigation ap- plication to help determine if the water was applied effectively. Another common mistake is that not all users understand the dramatic differences that can exist in the field capacity and permanent wilting point between different soil types.


Sensor pitfalls Sensors can function wirelessly,


track data


over an extended period of time and control irrigation, but to work at their greatest poten- tial, sensors must be installed and calibrated exactly per the manufacturer’s instructions, Vinchesi says. “You can’t just install them,” Vinchesi says.


“You also have to program everything so that they actually do something. You’d be surprised how many we see that were put in but were never calibrated.” Vinchesi explains that sensors don’t neces-


sarily go in one per zone so users don’t have to purchase an exorbitant amount of sensors. Tey’re placed in zones with similar condi- tions — i.e., all zones in sunny areas run off one sensor. While this method saves money, all of the wiring, which can differ with each manufacturer, must be done correctly. “It’s not an easy install, but


it’s not a hard install,” Vinchesi says. “You just have to learn how to do it properly.”


When to use meters, when to use sensors


Displayed on an irrigation controller, a soil moisture sensor compares moisture readings over a number of days. Sensors are the recommended option if an area of land can support a permanent moisture reader and if the user wants to log data over a period of time. Photo: Brian Vinchesi


38 Irrigation & Lighting Spring 2022


When it comes to deciding whether a meter or a sensor is best for an area of soil, nu- merous factors go into that choice. First, is the area able to


receive a permanent moisture reader? If yes, a user should consider a sensor.


You have the data –


now what? An essential use of the data soil meters provide can be used to tell which areas receive less amounts of water, says Eric Santos, CGIA, CIC, CID, CLIA, CAIS, CLWM, vice president of irrigation ser- vices at BrightView Holdings Inc., Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. “Knowing where the areas are with


lower moisture readings, or areas with weak coverage, can help in developing a solution to improve the coverage in these weak areas,” Santos says. “Since the areas of weak coverage drive irrigation demand, the more we can do to identify and correct these areas will result in water savings.” The greatest use of a sensor’s data is


figuring out how well the irrigation cycle performed throughout a period of time, says Forrest Jammer, CLIA, a project manager and landscape architect at Os- born Consulting, Bellevue, Washington. For example, after building a site


that has been played on by 400 children for a year, sensors can explain how the soil has moved, how things are with compaction and whether the irrigation program has worked. Maybe it was discovered one area drains faster than others on the site, requiring increased irrigation in one area and possibly need- ing a decrease in another. “It’s a push and pull that you do with


a system over the course of time on a piece of property,” Jammer says. “You’re always adjusting it because something’s changing out there.” Experiencing and learning how


to best use sensors, what to expect when using them, as well as knowing the different sensor model types and their abilities and limitations can help landscape professionals extend beyond traditional outdoor landscaping and into projects like rooftop gardens, green roofs or mid-level amenity spaces in apartment complexes. “It gives you the opportunity to make


some educated decisions on the different areas you can utilize sensors in,” Jammer says. “You are also able to understand that data to be able to communicate it No. 1, to your clients, and No. 2, to potentially other consultants or other installation companies.”


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