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Irrigation
1 Dec, 2006 By: Heather Pittinger Landscape ManagementTry finding "irrigation" on a contractor's bid list and you'll have to hunt a bit. It's usually lumped in with landscape construction, as though the design, installation and maintenance of a professional irrigation system doesn't require a separate budget or extra consideration.
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The Irrigation Association (IA) – and more than a few irrigation professionals – begs to differ. While many landscaping firms are opening irrigation divisions or subcontracting to specialists in order to give clients that "one-stop shop" service, the successful ones understand that irrigation requires a skill set all its own.
 Expect more water restrictions even if there is no drought, says Kurt Litton. |
The experts agree that there are three major trends emerging in irrigation: water efficiency, certification and pricing. And within each of those trends are a lot of different factors, some varying by region. Water efficiency, for example, is not nearly as big a deal in the Midwest as it is in the Western states. But many believe it won't stay that way for long.
 Irrigation as an add-on 5.2% percent of landscaping companies surveyed plan on adding irrigation services to their offering lineup in 2007. |
Kurt Litton, president of Jetstream Landscape & Irrigation, says that while reuse practices are more prevalent in California than in his market of Grand Blanc, MI, "municipalities are creating more water conservation restrictions even when there is no drought."
Lorne Haveruk, president of DH Water Management Services in Toronto, agrees. "Growth and demand are becoming much larger than supply in many areas," he says. "This is especially detrimental to irrigation systems based on city water supply."
However, he sees this as an opportunity for irrigation contractors: "You don't have to rely on city water," he says. "There are options like rainwater harvesting, stormwater collection, ponds, wells, collecting condensation from HVAC pipes into a cistern – even large-scale dehumidifiers that withdraw moisture from the outside air and send the water to onsite storage tanks."
Municipalities are quickly realizing the economic impact of good irrigation planning. For example, Haveruk explains how a summer drought almost shut down the town of Tofino on Vancouver Island last August. Were it not for bottled water for human consumption and trucked-in water for other uses, the tourist town would have been forced to close its doors. "Mind you, this is a rainforest area with 103 inches of water a year," he says. "It just cannot hold enough water with the old undersized reservoirs. There are not enough reservoirs to meet the current 600,000 gal/day demand."
Tofino and other towns across North America could benefit from an efficient irrigation method known as "low-volume point source watering," which can reduce consumption up to 80% over conventional spray/rotor methods. "You only need the water at the root zone of the plant, so switching existing spray/rotor systems to low-volume drip systems is a great service to offer existing customers," Haveruk explains.
However, while the technology is readily available, the technical ability to put it to proper use is lacking. Haveruk likens it to using all the features on one's cell phone.
"How many people use all their cell phone menus? It's the same with irrigation: The average irrigation service person uses about 25% of the controller's programming features," he says. "Manufacturers have leading-edge products, there are lots of options – but there's no incentive for contractors to do so. No one is saying 'You're going to make more money if you do it this way.'"
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