Why do an Irrigation Evaluation Audit
For most parks, attention to irrigation efficiency has the greatest potential for water conservation. In a typical park or athletic field, extra attention to irrigation system design, maintenance, and management will reduce water use by 25% to 75%, with 45% being the average.
The purpose of an irrigation audit is a systematic evaluation of the irrigation system design, maintenance, and management. It will identify areas where adjustments will make major impact on water conservation and turf quality. Actual water and dollar savings are immediate once findings are incorporated.
Audit Objective
Maximize Landscape Water Management and Irrigation Principals; report on actual Distribution Uniformity (DU), Application Efficiency, and set-up Irrigation Schedule and Water Budgeting.
8-Days-A-Week Management Goals:
-
Conserve water by using less per hectare
-
Reduce operating costs and add longer lifecycle to irrigation systems
-
Address water restrictions with effective drought management plan
-
Protect and enhance horticultural assets
-
Build partnerships and learning around best management practices
-
Be compliant with requirements of ISO 14001
Catch-Can Testing
A catch-can test is conducted on the turf area to evaluate the system performance in terms of Distribution Uniformity DU, (how evenly water is applied) and Precipitation rate, (how rapidly water is applied).
 |
Catch-Cans are set up in a square grid formation to collect waterfall. This data collected will generate a Distribution Uniformity (DU) chart. The DU results are in percent with 62% being the lowest acceptable in order to pass an audit. |
Distribution Uniformity value below 62% are considered unacceptable. Well-designed and maintained irrigation systems easily achieve DU values from 70% to 80%. Tests have shown, however, that DU values on sprinkler-irrigated landscapes are frequently less than 50%. This result is from poorly designed and poorly maintained systems.
A valve of DU=62% means that 38% of the water is wasted.
Example: Showing Catch-Can results and Distribution Uniformity (DU) chart.
 |
Distribution Uniformity or DU is the basis for an irrigation audit to determine the system’s inconsistency in application of water. |
Irrigation Controllers Who enters the information into your controller? A contractor of a new installation or the maintenance staff of existing fields, are not concerned about your future water costs.
Controllers sold in the past cannot be expected to apply water efficiently. They require people to calculate and set efficient irrigation schedules. To keep up with weather changes, people must repeat the action of imputing the correct scheduling information over and over again.
Experts say most turf areas are over irrigated by as much as 50%.
The future is real time ET controllers or “Smart Controllers” these controllers can access real time ET data, handle site-specific conditions (soil type, Kc, root depth). They have the ability to up date settings and scheduling data automatically. And can protect it-self from improper use changes.
Results show that 90% of the potential over watering (wasted water) can be saved with the use of “smart controllers”.
The 8-Days-A-Week “Smart” Controller Truly a “smart” controller with the ability to take site-specific conditions and determine the most efficient irrigation schedule possible to maximize plant health and appearance without water runoff and perform those functions continuously as weather changes without human interaction. It has access to accurate local ETo and completes the potential to save the most water possible while maintaining a high quality landscape.
The 8-Days Smart Controllers set up in multiple parks and combined with Central Control computer monitoring have the best potential for saving water and money.
Click below to visit the Central Control website.
www.hunterindustries.com/products/central_controls/immsintro.html
The first step to water savings is the 8-Days-A-Week Audit Report.
|
By applying the recommendations from the 8-Days-A-Week report wasted water saving of 30% can be realized immediately.
8 Days-A-Week Report |
 |
Actual water savings from two Southern Ontario cities.
The following information is actual water use collected from resent irrigation audits. These evaluations were performed on large parks and athletic fields in two different cities in Southern Ontario. The future water and cost saving estimates are listed.
 |
This chart will show the difference between actual water use (red) of this park and the applied water use goal (blue). Subtracting the difference between the red and blue lines is the wasted water savings. The green line is the actual turf water needs. |
Average water use per season ……………..3200m³ (golf courses excluded)
Average water savings ..36% or ………….. 1158m³
Water costs (stored, cleaned, c/w sewage) …….$1.23m³ The two cities have a total of 86 parks averaging 1158m³ savings = 99,072m³
Total water savings × the cost of water at $1.23 per cubic meter = $121,858.
Potential dollar savings over 5 years …………………………$ 609,290.
Saving start with an Audit Evaluation Report average cost…$2,200./site.
8 Days A Week 1-800-360-2479 | 
