WATER IS MONEY, WE HELP YOU SAVE

July is Smart Irrigation Month which we celebrate each year by educating our customers about the water conservation services we provide and promote. Water Rates have gone up faster than any other utility in the Northwest with some districts tripling their cost over the past decade. Water conservation isn't just the right thing to do for sustainability, it is essential to manage operational costs in landscaping. Here are the projects and initiatives we offer.

Remote Irrigation Control

Water costs and labor rates are skyrocketing, but technology is improving to help offset those costs. Managing landscape irrigation is complicated, and increasing water and labor costs have Pacific Landscape Management focused on all aspects of water conservation and efficiency savings to minimize the cost impact on our customers. 

Our partnership with Weathermatic Irrigation has helped us manage water through their Smartlink Weather Based program. Last year, we started and this next winter, we will continue to convert systems we manage to this new controller and service. It will slightly increase our monthly service cost, but when we considered the value to our customers and the improved efficiency, we decided to add it to our maintenance program for most controllers that are not already on a remote access or weather-based controller.

AND REMEMBER: you get a new controller valued at $500-$1,000 guaranteed for life with no upfront cost!  THIS IS A NO BRAINER!!

Weather Based Irrigation Control

Beyond remote access controllers, we have found through our experience that weather based irrigation control saves 20-30% from traditional manually programmed systems making it a no-brainer with water rates rising so rapidly. Previously, converting to weather-based irrigation required capital cost. Weathermatic developed a subscription-based model for their SmartLink Wireless Landscape Network Weather Base Irrigation Control. Pacific Landscape Management has become a Weathermatic Premiere Partner allowing us to offer this as a subscription. We have promoted Weathermatic Smartlink for 4 years now in Portland and now offering and promoting it in Seattle. For a small increase in the monthly fee, you will avoid the capital installation cost and potentially save up to 30% on your irrigation water bill.

See this new video with a brief outline of this new technology.

Also, see this informational flier for more details.

Previously, conversion to Weather-Based control came with a $2,000-3,000 per controller capital cost for the hardware, then a $20 per month communication fee. WeatherMatic is offering the upgrade to their hardware included in their monthly fee which ranges from only $30-$45 per month. 

Pressure Regulated Sprinklers

Historically, most irrigation systems have non-pressure regulated sprinklers that often times operate over pressurized. Over-pressurization can lead to water losses and contribute to uneven watering.

Pressure-regulating spray heads are a developing technology designed to regulate pressure to optimal performance. They include built-in regulators that maintain a more constant pressure for optimal nozzle performance.

WHY IS PRESSURE REGULATION IMPORTANT? 

Two reasons: They will save water and it is likely soon to be the law. 

WATER SAVINGS:  Compared with non-regulated, pressure-regulated sprinklers will use about 20-25 percent less water. If the nozzle breaks, pressure regulators are estimated to save 70 percent of the water that might have been spilled if using an older sprinkler system.

PRESSURE REGULATED SPRINKLERS NOW REQUIRED BY LAW:  California, Washington, Colorado, Hawaii, and Vermont have adopted banning sales of non-pressure-regulated spray heads in previous years. This past year, the Oregon Landscape Contractors Association sponsored a bill to do the same in Oregon. We firmly supported this effort which was signed into law this year. Although we hate new regulations, this one makes good financial sense. 

Lawn Conversion

With the hot, dry weather this, and every summer, we see dry spots develop in lawns where it is difficult to water. In some of these areas, water conservation is best achieved by changing the landscape and giving up on lawn. Don’t get us wrong, we love lawn. Quite frankly, we make our living on managing and maintaining lawns. That being said, we also hate trying to maintain lawn where is won’t grow or where it is hard or expensive to maintain. The pictures above are examples of where lawn should not be. 

Why is lawn where is shouldn’t be? The simplest answer is that lawn is the cheapest part of landscape installation and when brand new, looks great. New lawn on freshly prepared soil looks great. Parking strips and parking islands are probably the worst place for lawn. There is concrete or asphalt on most or all sides, often times the soil is shallow or there is rock or asphalt below, irrigation coverage is difficult due to small, odd shapes. and as tree roots develop, they compete for moisture.  We believe that parking strips and islands may take as much as 5-10 times as much irrigation to maintain. A bad combination in which to grow and maintain lawns. In addition, these areas are difficult and sometimes dangerous to maintain due to nearby cars and obstacles on or near.

What is the Alternative? There are lots of options. Replacing lawn with just barkdust or some sort of groundcover are both options. We have experimented with Sedum like on green roofs but it has had marginal success. We are seeing locally and nationally the use of rock and are very excited about that as an option. Below are several pictures of Rock as a groundcover that is very attractive and easy to maintain. Rocks do not need water and never die. Some have expressed concern about the liability risk with rocks but we believe that is low. If someone wants to throw a rock through a window, they will find it even if there is no rock in the landscape.   

https://www.pacscape.com/sustainability/lawn-conversion.php