• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

New System Could Save Billions Of Gallons Of Water

Posted on: Thursday, 23 July 2009, 13:40 CDT

Knowing that water is an exhaustible resource, more people are turning to smart water systems that provide the perfect amount of water for quenching their yards’ thirst while saving some of the 225 billion gallons of water being wasted yearly in over-watering.

It has been estimated that homeowners and companies are over-watering their grass and plants by between 30 and 300 percent, said Chris Spain, chief sustainability officer at water management company HydroPoint, citing a report by the American Water Works Association.

"The reason for the waste is because of dumb technology," Spain said. "There are 45 million irrigation systems in the U.S. (controlled) by simple timers. They do a great job of keeping time but a lousy job of irrigating to what the land requires."

Spain says that 58 percent of the water used in urban areas is from city landscaping, or "urban irrigation.”

He added that 544,000 tons of greenhouse gases are generated every year by water waste alone.

The highly efficient smart irrigation systems are programmed to make water use really count based on factors such as plant and soil types and the level of sunlight. It also has a weather sensor to monitor soil moisture levels after it rains.

"U.S. water-related energy use is at least 521 million megawatt hours a year -- equivalent to 13 percent of the nation's electricity consumption," said a River Network Carbon Footprint of Water report published in May.

"The carbon associated with moving, treating and heating water in the U.S. is at least 290 million tons a year."

Water levels are also affected by climate change, with western states enduring the driest years on record.

For the most populous state of California, this marks the third year of drought to the point where lawmakers are urging residents to take shorter showers and water lawns less frequently in order to decrease consumption by one-fifth.

Smart irrigation systems have been found by several studies to save water by between 16 and 30 percent more than the comparable priced traditional timer-based controllers.

"It's not like solar, lighting or other systems which require vast infrastructure changes," Spain said, throwing in that his clients have saved $75 million in water cost savings.

Jennifer Riley-Chetwynd of Rain Bird said her company saw a corporate headquarters nearly split its water usage for irrigation in half from 416,000 gallons per year to 214,000 gallons.

Buildings can also be polluted and damaged by over-watering, resulting in $375 million in insurance claims in California in 2005, according to the California Insurance Association.

Spain says that beginning 2012, California law will make smart irrigation controllers mandatory for all new properties.

Britain is also greatly concerned about water usage. 

On Wednesday, a joint study was published by the UK's Energy Saving Trust and the Environment Agency warning that as new homes become increasingly energy efficient, hot water use could beat heating as the main cause of carbon emissions.

"Six percent of the UK's annual carbon emissions are related to water use -- nearly 90 percent of that is from hot water use in the home," the report said.

A report was also issued on Wednesday by Britain's Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee to water regulator Ofwat. It warned that water scarcity will become "an increasingly critical issue in the South and East of England" and urged them to improve water efficiency.

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

More News in this Category