Properly designed, installed, and maintained landscape irrigation systems are critical to saving water and money on Atlanta commercial properties.
But during spring, when we’re restarting irrigation systems, we tend to find common problems that pop up over time due to Mother Nature’s impact on systems and general wear and tear over years of regular use.
The good news is that these problems can usually be corrected with simple retrofits that significantly improve performance. These minor tweaks can make a huge difference in water and cost savings on a typical commercial irrigation system, even on systems that operate just fine.
6 Retrofits For Your Commercial Irrigation Systems
Here are some of the frequent water management problems we see on Atlanta commercial properties and the uncomplicated retrofits that can eliminate issues and bring irrigation systems to a smoother, more sustainable level of operation.
Zone Shutdown
Plants and trees grow over time. As they grow, their needs change. When evaluating an irrigation system, your commercial landscape contractor can look at different zones and possibly shut down those unnecessary on the system. This change can save big, in water and dollars.
Pressure Control
When the pressure on an irrigation system is too high, water can mist, overthrow its intended location, and excessively runoff. Cracked or leaking valves are the more common reasons for irrigation water loss due to plastic deterioration over time. This deterioration creates waste and additional problems, such as soggy areas. Installing pressure-regulating valves can keep water pressure under control and stop this water waste.
Nozzle And/Or Valve Conversion
High-flow nozzles that aren’t working can push water out at such an extreme rate that water is wasted. Upgrading to multi-trajectory rotating nozzles will help apply water much more slowly and uniformly than these conventional nozzles, creating more consistent, targeted irrigation.
Smarter Controls
The controller acts as the brains of the irrigation system. Upgrading to smart controllers enables a property manager or commercial landscape contractor to enter in soil types, plant material requirements, and weather forecasts to use this data to help control the water the system is putting out. Some smart controllers even detect moisture levels in the ground to determine whether or not irrigation is required.
Sensing Rain
A rain sensor is one of the simplest upgrades every commercial irrigation system can use. Rain and freeze sensors typically cost as little as $50 and can help turn the system off when it’s raining or too cold by detecting the moisture levels and temperatures in the ground and sending a message back to the controller to cut the system’s power until that extra irrigation is necessary.
Drip Irrigation
Sometimes the best way to save water is to convert commercial landscape beds to drip irrigation systems instead of traditional spray irrigation systems. Drip uses smaller volumes of water at much lower pressures, creating instant savings.
HighGrove Can Help You Save Water And Money Today!
The main reasons Atlanta commercial property managers make simple improvements to their irrigation systems are to save water and save money. The two always go hand in hand.
Whether you are using lakes for irrigation and need to conserve water and electricity, or you’re using city water and need to reduce your costs, HighGrove Partners can help make your system more efficient.
Give us a call at 678-298-0550, or use our simple contact form to set up a meeting with our irrigation team.
Last modified: February 10, 2022