Taking CONTROL

A look at the benefits of irrigation controllers and how irrigation pros can take advantage of them.

While some irrigation contractors may be hesitant to adopt smart controllers, it may just give them the advantage they need to gain more customers and become more profitable.

“Sometimes, end customers don’t have a lot of respect for the landscape industry, so if a contractor can come in as a water management professional, someone who not just understands but who can use the technology for the purpose of saving their customers water while making their landscape look better, that elevates them to a much higher standard,” says Richard Restuccia, vice president, water management solutions, at Jain Irrigation. “They will automatically start getting more work because they’ll be separating themselves from the competition through the quality of their work.”

Restuccia and Matthew Mikucki, director of product marketing at SiteOne Landscape Supply lay out the ins and outs of smart controllers and how irrigation pros can take advantage of them.

The benefits

By using smart controllers, irrigation professionals are providing a better service to their customers, Mikucki says.

“You don’t want to have your homeowner running their irrigation system when it is raining out, and you want to be applying the correct amount of water needed for the plant material when you are looking at the overall amount of water being applied, whether it is from rain or from the irrigation system,” Mikucki says. “Overwatering is as much of an issue as underwatering. Overwatering can cause diseases in your turfgrass and potentially allow pests such as mosquitoes to grow.”

Restuccia notes that the water and cost savings for customers are also a plus.

“You have to distinguish yourself from the competition by saying ‘we are a water management company, and we may have a higher fee, but because we use smart controllers and manage your water appropriately, we’re going to save you money on your water bills that will more than make up what we’re charging on our higher fee.’”

Additionally, using a smart controller means irrigation pros don’t have to waste labor driving to a site to adjust the system.

“From its most basic level, having a smart controller means you don't have to physically touch the controller to make an adjustment on it,” Restuccia says. “If someone has a traditional controller, and there’s rain coming or winter is coming, they need to drive to a site to shut the controllers off, and the waste of time, labor and fuel is incredible. Think of one account manager handling 15 jobs. This ability for the times to change automatically for you daily is a huge time saver, and it doesn’t cause all that waste that we’re trying to eliminate right now in our environment.”

What to know

It’s important to remember that a smart system is not just the irrigation controller, Mikucki says.

Irrigation pros should look at the distribution of water and understand that pressure-regulating sprays ensure the nozzle is performing at the best pressure to maintain optimum performance of the spray head or rotor.