Conservation Of Water Key To Public Perception Of Irrigation Industry

"Water will be to this century what oil was to the previous one," said Brian Vinchesi, president of the American Society of Irrigation Consultants (ASIC), to a group of more than 150 irrigation professionals at ASIC’s recent conference in Savannah, Ga. "Landscapes around the country are facing acute issues of water availability and management."

ASIC’s conference, titled "Water Availability and Alternate Resources," highlighted the importance of using alternative sources of water other than a clean potable (drinkable) supply for irrigation. Alternative sources include recycled water, groundwater, lake or pond water, run-off from agricultural fields and gray water from homes, such as dishwater or any water not used for toilets and without human fecal coliform in it, explained Vinchesi.

He said that reusing water for irrigation is a well-accepted technology in parts of the United States, especially in California, Arizona and Florida where water can be a limited resource. Its reuse also lowers operating costs for consumers.

"The advantages of reused water is that it is usually less expensive," Vinchesi explained. "It also is usually carrying some nutrients with it that might save you on fertilizer." However, he warned that the water might be carrying some unwanted items, such as salt, pesticides or too many nutrients. Therefore, irrigation professionals need to monitor water quality carefully for long-term use of reused water on turfgrass and landscapes.

Reusing water puts less pressure on an irrigation system for quantity and supply, which is especially important in areas that have strict restrictions on irrigation use, according to Vinchesi. "[Use of recycled water] allows the irrigation contractor to have other uses for water, which allows them to hopefully put in more and larger systems. It opens up more opportunities for work because if we don’t have any water, we can’t put an irrigation system in," he explained.

CONSULTANTS WORKING TO SAVE WATER AND ENERGY. Members of ASIC are irrigation consultants who counsel irrigation contractors, design systems and put projects out to bid with the goal of maximizing energy efficiency and water use.

"Irrigation consultants are proponents of efficient irrigation design as opposed to just irrigation design. They look at the long-term aspects of a system, such as proper pressure regulation and supply, making sure the system is irrigating in an appropriate time limit and that the system is installed and scheduled correctly so it doesn’t waste water," explained Vinchesi.

Creating a suitable design and choosing the proper equipment needs are key factors to an irrigation consultant’s planning. Important determinations include location of electrical sources, availability and limitations of the water supply, proper zoning and the various components that make up an irrigation system. The key goal is to make turn a design into a system, rather than just putting different entities together to be able to irrigate, explained Vinchesi.

He said that irrigation consultants are independent, which means they do not represent products, whereas some designers also sell products. "One thing that a consultant does that may not be done by other designers is pick the product that best fits the situation," Vinchesi noted. "Somebody who is trying to sell a product is going to try to use the product they sell."

TECHNOLOGY HELPS PUBLIC PERCEPTION. Technology, particularly advancements in sensor devices, has played a key role in establishing more efficient irrigation systems and improving public perception of the irrigation industry, according to Vinchesi.

"Sensing has made control of the irrigation system much more practical and easier," he said. "It’s much easier to sense soil moisture, flow, pressure, rain, wind and freezing conditions than it used to be."

Vinchesi noted that before sophisticated sensing devices were available, irrigation systems would continue to run their full cycle regardless of weather conditions, even during rainstorms. When the public spots that situation, it gives the irrigation industry a bad name because the public notices the wastefulness of watering in a rainstorm. However, with advanced devices to sense weather conditions, irrigation systems can shut off on their own when soil moisture gets to a certain level, when wind gets to a preset sustained velocity or when temperatures drop below an appropriate level.

"Sensor devices help the industry from the public perception end," said Vinchesi. "Some people think irrigation systems waste water, and reducing irrigation during inappropriate times certainly helps on that end."