Park sprinklers are going high tech
By Terry Murry on Monday, March 6th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
The following is a news release from the city of Pendleton
Pendleton Parks and Recreation has installed a new, high tech irrigation system to save time and resources in watering city parks. The Hunter Industries’ Hydrawise Irrigation Control System will use smart technology to automatically control irrigation amounts based on programmed settings. Parks Supervisor Todd Kligel said the new system will help limit wasted water because it can automatically adjust to weather conditions.
“With the previous system, unless we went out and manually changed it, it didn’t matter if there was rain or if it was 100 degrees out, it watered,” Kligel said. “With this new system, we can set it so if we have a half inch of rain, it won’t water for the night. We can make sure we aren’t overwatering.”
As part of the new system, Hydrawise smart irrigation controllers, or “clocks,” are being installed at all city parks. Each controller will have sensors to monitor ground conditions. The new system installation cost about $25,000, but Parks and Recreation Director Liam Hughes said with 22 city parks and thousands of sprinklers, the water – and cost – savings will add up quickly.
“One of the biggest savings is going to come from the water plant,” said. “If you’re watering in the middle of a monsoon rain, that’s a lot of gallons we could be saving.”
In addition to the automatic sensor control, the Hydrawise System will also allow parks staff to edit irrigation parameters and to control the systems remotely by cell phone. If a leak is reported, for example, staff can remotely shut off the water to that park and investigate.
The new system is not the first time Pendleton Parks and Recreation has installed a remote management system for irrigation. Because visiting each park site would be very labor intensive, the city installed a system that used a VHF radio signal controlled by the parks and recreation shop; however, parks without a geographic line of site to the shop could not be connected to the system. Hughes said about half the city’s parks were connected with that system, but it has become cost prohibitive to replace and repair.
“Every time you have to fix one of those clocks, it’s hundreds of dollars,” he said. “These new clocks were cheaper than the price of fixing the old ones, they have more abilities, and we can now connect to all of the parks, which is a huge benefit.”
Hughes said the new system should be a savings in both hardware purchase and in water use.
