<font color=red>Column:</font> Water Restrictions Provide New Opportunities

There are some great opportunities for new products and services in the field of landscape irrigation.

Thanks to dry climate conditions and the constant threat of water restrictions, Naturescape Landscape Company, a design-build landscape contracting company in San Diego, Calif., decided to expand its services to include irrigation management. At the design state, it provided the greatest opportunity to create a self-sustaining system of water and landscapes. The company began providing its customers with specific amounts of water based on average rainfall calculations. It did this by tanking the commodity and pumping it out only as needed.

In San Diego County, a desert region, many residents insist on having landscapes that would be found in regions that get quite a bit more rainfall or can take advantage of snow fall melting over the ground. Since the climate is dry, it is important for designers to take weather conditions into consideration.

For instance, there are numerous micro-climates in San Diego, many where tropical plants can live well and some where many plants from the Midwest can thrive. There also are fog banks that set in, which opens the opportunity to use native and desert region plants that are watered by the fog rather than ground water.

Another opportunity for designers is green building. Naturescape recently completed a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design- (LEED) certified building for one of its general contractors. For this project, the parking lot was created by installing an 18-inch bed with 0.75-inch gravel and setting permeable pavers to absorb the water. A rain farm also was designed that included a 3,000-gallon tank that was buried like an old cistern. A 4-inch SDR-35 pipe was routed from the tank to the flower bed and building’s gutter so run off could fill the tank. A barrel trap was made from a 55-gallon plastic drum to catch solids that could get into the water supply.

Naturescape also engineered plant beds to offer texture by using ornamental grasses and Pala Verde trees, which can be planted in the inland deserts. Seven drip zone systems were installed with 135 Rain Bird Zerigator micro manifolds that each had their own filtration screen. The company placed 505 Micro bubbler heads at every plant base and connected them with 0.25-inch tubing so the flow for each plant could be adjusted.

In addition, a Hunter ICC controller and weather station were installed on the roof to regulate water when it was needed, unlike systems that turn on during rain storms and waste water. A 208-volt constant velocity pump was installed above ground with a mercury float. It was wired using a relay so when there was no water in the tank, a valve would open and use municipal water.

The landscape was designed and engineered so it would not require more water than what the tank could hold. The tank had additional room next to it so another tank could be installed if there was a need for more water.

The builder and Naturescape use the entire system as a model for the builders’ high-end clients, many of which have fruit groves on their land. Thus far, three more systems and landscapes such as this one have been ordered.

For whatever the reasons are for water restrictions, there are excellent opportunities in our industry to do something good by using what we have rather than creating the need to use more. As water becomes more of an issue throughout the United States, these opportunities will grow proportionately.

Bill Schwab founded the Naturescape Landscape Company in 1991 with Juliana Marossy. He has worked in the irrigation industry for more than 25 years.