Company: O’Connell Landscape Maintenances
Location: San Marcos, Calif.
After two decades of managing the San Elijo Hills homeowners’ association in San Diego County, O’Connell Landscape Maintenance (OLM) replaced the existing irrigation controllers.
The community spanned about 2,000 acres and was situated on a rocky hill, says Jack Rush, executive vice president of operations at OLM.
“The system didn’t have operational flow sensing, so we couldn’t tell where we had leaks because it was on rocks — and potentially the water could run for days without detection,” Rush says.
To reduce water usage and utility costs, OLM installed 40 Hunter ACC Module smart controllers that serviced 2,500 existing valve stations — and combined main lines to consolidate water meters. O’Connell Landscape also converted sprayheads and rotors to drip irrigation.
To apply slow-release fertilizers, the company installed fertilization tanks that put out nutrients through the drip line.
The project took the team about six months to install, and Rush estimates it will take another six months to ensure each component is working effectively. He predicts the property will experience a 20 percent or higher savings in overall water usage with the smart controllers.
The company received funding from the San Diego County Water Authority and Vallecitos Water District for the project.
With the smart controllers’ flow-sensing capabilities, the project manager can control the amount of water running through the system and receive real-time alerts via the web-based app if there are high flows.
O’Connell Landscape Maintenance combined main lines to consolidate water meters.
A challenge to this project is its location. The San Elijo Hills homeowner’s association spanned about 2,000 acres and was situated on a rocky hill.
By combining main lines to consolidate several water meters, O’Connell Landscape Maintenance reduced the cost of water by a few hundred dollars a month.
Installation of the weather station used to help manage the system.
Hunter Irrigation engineers visited the job site to offer support.
O’Connell Landscape Maintenance installed 40 Hunter ACC Module smart controllers that served 2,500 existing valve stations.
With the smart controllers’ flow-sensing capabilities, the project manager can control the amount of water running through the system and receive real-time alerts via the web-based app if there are high flows.
Installation of the weather station used to help manage the system.
