With a whole month dedicated to smart irrigation, July is a great time for sports fields to evaluate their water-use efficiency and effectiveness. Here are three easy ways to get started on a field’s water conservation efforts.
Does your sports field have any leaks? Has your water bill increased suddenly? Maybe you want to make sure your field is using water efficiently? These are all great reasons to check your system with an irrigation audit.
Getting a certified irrigation audit will verify your systems are working effectively and identify ways to improve your field’s water-use efficiency. The audit will take into consideration your field’s unique conditions, analyzing the water requirements, irrigation use and distribution uniformity. An audit will also help you ensure the water being used on your field isn’t wasted, leaching out fertilizer or running off and creating puddles on the sidelines, all while keeping the turf green.
Spending the time and effort to evaluate all aspects of your irrigation system, from water pressure to the nozzles and everything in between, can make a big difference in your smart irrigation practices.
Not sure how to get a certified irrigation audit? Ask your local Ewing store—the team is happy to help coordinate an audit for your fields.
Smart controllers, with Wi-Fi capabilities and mobile app management, have become increasingly popular in the green industry. For field management, these same tech-savvy devices can make managing one or multiple sports fields easy and water efficient. A California school district recently made great strides in water efficiency and cost savings by managing their fields with smart controllers; read their story.
Not only can smart controllers make it easier for field managers to oversee the irrigation system’s schedule and make changes in the palm of their hands, there are other efficient irrigation functions that can help keep your fields game-day ready. You can set up a smart irrigation system for your fields that takes into consideration your soil type, precipitation rates, regional evapotranspiration and local weather station data. Learn more about various smart irrigation products here.
If your fields are soaked, does it make sense to continue watering them? Probably not, but it’s not always easy to see from the surface. Utilizing soil moisture sensors, like Baseline’s WaterTec S100 Soil Moisture Sensor Kit or Hunter’s Soil-Clik Soil Moisture Sensor, will detect moisture levels in the soil and interrupt your irrigation schedule, limiting water waste. With a two-wire installation, most soil moisture sensors are compatible with both smart controllers and timers, making it an easy add-on to your field’s existing irrigation system.
Are your sports fields undergoing any smart irrigation updates? Share below what you’ve done or are doing to use water wisely, while keeping your fields in top playing conditions.