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What is a Smart Irrigation Controller?


Deep infrequent watering is best for plant health.


Landscape Watering by NumbersRefer to the booklet Landscape Watering by the numbers to help determine landscape watering needs and for knowing how to make appropriate seasonal adjustments to your irrigation controller.

 An irrigation controller, otherwise known as irrigation timer or irrigation clock, is the brains of your irrigation system. It tells your irrigation system when to turn on, how long to run, and when to turn off. Of course, you or your landscaper must program the controller to run the designated times and adjust your clock at least seasonally to follow the weather patterns, if you want to be water efficient.

Smart irrigation controllers do the adjustments for you, and not just seasonally. They adjust the controller on an on-going basis. The smart controller estimates how much water needs to be applied to your landscape to replace water that has been lost to evaporation, plant use, and other environmental conditions.

Proper programming of the controller is essential since plants prefer deep, infrequent drinks of water that wet their entire root zone. Once the controller is programmed to run the irrigation system long enough to water to the proper depth, the controller will only change the number of days between irrigation events. This will give your plants the deep, infrequent watering they prefer for optimal plant health.

Without proper programming, a smart irrigation controller cannot effectively water your landscape and may use more water than necessary. Contact a landscape professional who has experience working with smart irrigation controllers. Proper installation and programming requires in-depth knowledge of plants, soils, and other landscape conditions.

New-generation water-wise smart controllers are eligible for the irrigation controller rebate.

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