WaterSense goal - boost H20 efficiency

Commercial and residential outdoor water use in the United States accounts for more than seven billion gallons of water each day, mainly for landscape irrigation. As much as half of that is wasted due to evaporation, wind or improper irrigation design, installation, maintenance and scheduling.

An efficient irrigation system requires water-efficient products and also proper design, installation and maintenance. To address these issues and improve water efficiency in the landscape, WaterSense is labeling both the professional service side and the product side of landscape irrigation. WaterSense is the U.S. EPA’s new program to build a national brand for water efficiency and educate American consumers (and the irrigation industry) on making smart choices that save money and maintain high environmental standards without compromising performance.

The program will raise awareness about the importance of water efficiency, ensure the performance of water-efficient products and provide consumers with information that will enable them to make an informed decision when choosing water-efficient services and products.

The WaterSense brand label (think EPA’s EnergyStar program) will be easily identifiable by consumers on products and services that perform at least 20% more efficiently than their counterparts. The WaterSense label also means the products meet EPA criteria for water efficiency and performance by following specific testing and verification protocols specific to each product category.

Joanna Kind spoke at The Intelligent Use of Water Summit III, sponsored by Rain Bird Aug. 31.

Currently, WaterSense is in the process of labeling certification programs for irrigation professionals that advance the principles and applications of water-efficient irrigation.

Programs that earn the WaterSense label must meet several criteria to ensure rigorous testing and certification processes that accurately assess professional knowledge in designing, installing and maintaining or auditing water-efficient irrigation systems.

To qualify for labeling, certification programs must include an experiential requirement, have a renewal requirement, evaluate proficiency through examinations and be subject to independent oversight.

Specifications will be released later this year.

The initial categories available for WaterSense labeling are:

Irrigation Auditor: Applies to programs that certify irrigation professionals who assess the proper functioning of existing irrigation systems, perform water audits and recommend watering schedules.

Irrigation Installation and Maintenance Professional: Applies to programs that certify irrigation professionals who install new irrigation systems and/or repair and maintain existing irrigation systems.

Irrigation Designer: Applies to programs that certify irrigation professionals who develop the design of new irrigation systems and/or modifications to existing irrigation systems.

WaterSense is also conducting research on multiple water-efficient irrigation technologies. The first product categories for labeling will be weather-based irrigation control technology and soil moisture sensors.

Weather-based irrigation control technology uses local weather and landscape conditions to tailor irrigation schedules to actual conditions on the site or historical weather data. Instead of irrigating according to a pre-set schedule, advanced irrigation controllers allow irrigation to more closely match the water requirements of plants.

Soil moisture sensors increase the water efficiency of irrigation systems by allowing them to operate only when irrigation is actually needed. Soil moisture sensors are placed beneath the soil surface at a specified depth to measure the amounts of moisture in the soil. When the moisture level drops below a predetermined level, the controller is allowed to operate, watering your plants.

Soil moisture sensors can be programmed for individual needs and can be fitted to most electronic automatic controllers.

These new control technologies offer significant potential to improve irrigation practices in homes, businesses, parks and schools across the United States.