Water World: Saved by the millions

Company: DC Ranch Association
Location: Scottsdale, Ariz.

From 2017 to 2019, DC Ranch Association, a homeowners’ association in Scottsdale, Ariz., reduced its water usage by 22 million gallons. The cause: A two-year-long renovation project that included an audit of the community’s massive irrigation system.

DC Ranch Association worked with AquaTrac to map the new irrigation system and then settled on ETWater controllers. Four DC Ranch Association and four AquaTrac employees took part in the project by replacing the old system’s 126 irrigation controllers located in residential turf and natural open space areas with 69 ETWater smart controllers. Some of the controllers originally situated in natural areas were no longer deemed necessary. The project took place from 2018 to 2020.

“The (old system) wasn’t working the way it should’ve worked,” says Darren Shaw, executive director of DC Ranch Association. “We couldn’t remotely control the controllers. The weather station wasn’t connected in a way where it was having an impact. We consolidated many of the controllers. Replacing 69 controllers with new smart controllers versus replacing 126 saved hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

All in all, Shaw says it’s critical for communities to pay attention to their irrigation practices. “It’s important that we spend the money to save the money,” he says. “These improvements over time will pay for themselves.”

Photo: DC Ranch Association

DC Ranch Association has saved 22 million gallons of water in two years and hundreds of thousands of dollars after renovating its outdated irrigation system.

Photo: DC Ranch Association

DC Ranch Association pays close attention to sustainability efforts.

Photo: DC Ranch Association

Several of the areas previously irrigated within DC Ranch Association were natural areas that no longer required irrigation.

Photo: DC Ranch Association

The association’s residential areas are now irrigated with the help of ETWater smart controllers.