St. Edward’s University has taken steps to improve our water and irrigation use by implementing a smart controller water system. The smart controller water system has 3 key features that improve water conservation: data collection, communication, and system monitoring. The smart controller is able to collect data on how moist the soil currently is, which it then uses to determine how much water is needed to saturate the athletic fields it irrigates. A local weather station communicates with the local smart controller to help predict if precipitation is likely in the near future. This allows St. Edward’s University to save money on irrigation by potentially limiting irrigation if the weather station predicts rain in the next couple of days. The smart system also has the ability to track any leaks in the piping it uses. This is done by monitoring the standard flow rates and comparing them to the current flow rates. If the current flow rate is greater than the standard, then the grounds crew would be aware of a leak in the area where the flow is increased. This system is currently used on the soccer, baseball, and practice soccer field and has the potential to be implemented throughout campus.
The Facilities staff is also beginning installation of multi-stream rotator sprinklers on campus. These sprinklers are much more effective in irrigating while using less water. This increase in efficiency is due to less water being atomized and lost to evaporation which is common in typical sprinkler systems. This water is funneled in streams which are more resistant to evaporation. This leads to less water being used to irrigate the same area.
Blog authored by Sustainability Graduate Assistant, Thomas LaPoint ’15, Professional Science Master’s in Environmental Management and Sustainability.