Over the last several years, Affinity Irrigation INC. has been evaluating sprinkler systems in the Greater Toronto Area and has found that most are under-maintained, inefficient and outdated.
This causes higher costs to buildings through greater repair costs, servicing requirements and at a cost of the environment.
We have dedicated our time to create industry leading solutions to serve our clients, just like
you.
Here is a report for one of our clients:
Our solution will provide you with:
•Reduction in Watering Expenses • Lower Carbon Footprint • Healthier Plants •
The irrigation systems at ------------------------------ have 375 sprinkler heads in operation. Each sprinkler head has an average output of 2 gallons of water per minute. Each zone had an average run time of 20-minutes, every day from mid-April to mid-November.
{~375 sprinklers x 2 gallons per minute per sprinkler x ~20 min run time} = 15,000 gallons per cycle
Main Issues:
Rain Delays:
The irrigation system does not have any rain delay techniques built in. As a result, the irrigation system operated around 80 times in 2021, on rainy days.
Solution:
A smart irrigation system offers proactive and adaptative scheduling in real time. The cloud-based software connects with local airport weather stations to determine the most efficient watering schedule.
Rain delays from smart watering systems perform proactively, which provide an extra 15-20 cycle delays as opposed to traditional rain sensors. The software also over, and under compensates automatically following local weather. When it is cold and wet, the system turns off. When it is hot and dry, the system increases output.
Rain delay parameters are tailored to each landscape using user inputs, which runs through a soil moisture estimation.
This feature alone will save ---------------- around $24,000 for the year in saved water consumption.
Wind Delays:
In Toronto, we can expect ten days per irrigation season to be considered “strong winded” days, with winds exceeding 52KM/H. In these conditions, irrigation efficiency is lost substantially through wind drift loss as well as increased evaporation. Small water droplets are easily taken with the wind, often watering whatever is down wind instead of plant material. The result is a substantial loss of water, especially over an entire 375 sprinkler head system.
Solution:
Our smart irrigation system takes wind speed into account when scheduling. This timer will auto/ shut off if a certain threshold of wind speed is met, saving the system from watering uncontrollably in the strong wind.
This discipline will save ----------------- $3000 on the average per year in saved water consumption.
High Efficiency Nozzles
------------------------------- already has high efficiency nozzles on about 90% of the sprinklers on site.
High Efficiency Nozzles produce larger droplets of water compared to the standard fixed spray nozzle. As a result, they produce less evaporation as the water leaves the sprinkler head. The superior performance results in a better absorption rate at the root of plants. The existing sprinkler nozzles were spraying more sidewalk and concrete than plant material.
Solution:
High efficiency nozzles increase irrigation efficiency by 30% compared to traditional spray heads. Simply, 30% more water (already billed through meter) lands on the landscape to water efficiently.
Flow Meters
The water usage in regards to this sprinkler system has been untracked and untamed since installation. It is hard to judge the water consumption historically, but if every year was like 2021, our estimated total of water wasted over the last 10 years is over 12 million gallons, or about $240,000 dollars' worth.
Solution:
With the installed smart flow meter, we are able to know and understand the exact output towards the irrigation system. This will allow the building management to better craft a budget towards watering the landscape. This device also helps us to understand irrigation usage. Understanding the data of each zone’s most efficient output per minute allows us to know instantly if there is any line break or broken head on the zone. When the smart meter notices any inconsistency above or below the set parameters, we receive an instant notification and are able to tell which zone displayed the inconsistency. This allows us to be reactive immediately, instead of having residents complaining over large pools of water where they shouldn’t be.
Water Gater Valve
There is air in your water lines and you are paying for it. Water lines have turbulent flow by nature, starting at the utility source all the way through your water meter and onto your property. This results in the separation of air from liquid in addition to accumulation of air from leaks along the way. As a result, water meters register air by volume in addition to water. Users are paying for air because water meters do not differentiate between the flow of liquid or gas.
Solution:
The Water Gater Valves are Flow Management devices that reduces metered water expenses by ensuring a more accurate reading at the meter. This device removes the air from main waterlines. This will create 15-30% more efficient watering sessions for each station.
Please send an e-mail to affinityirrigation@gmail.com for more information.
Quotes available upon request. Please inquire via email.
We have a goal of saving over 100 million gallons of water per year for our clients as a result of our irrigation water management solutions.
-Adam Stewart, Owner, Affinity Irrigation INC.