Full Description

In 1998, the Irvine Ranch Water District and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California established a study to test a technology that automatically delivers real-time evapotranspiration (ET) directly to home irrigation controllers. The goal was to eliminate landscape over-water use among residential customers. The tested technology, called Weather TRAK is manufactured by Network Services in Petaluma, Ca. It was selected after a review of existing ET controller technologies based on: price for the unit/service; credibility of the water saving technology; and, ease and convenience of using the technology for the customer and the agency. The key findings of the ET Controller study were: convenience of never having to set or change controllers was #1 to participants; landscape appearance stayed the same or improved on test sites; water savings averaged 16% of landscape water (on generally efficient homes); 85% of the test homes saw a decrease in water bills; surveys indicated that residents would be willing to pay for the weather signal service because of the generally positive aspects of the technology; water run-off appeared to be reduced from test homes, leading to a 2nd study to specifically measure impacts on reducing water run-off.

Product Details

Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 01/01/2002 Number of Pages: 6 File Size: 1 file , 140 KB