TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

High-Tech Research Could Help Save Water

Research aimed at saving water used to nourish landscapes.

News Channel 8 photo by WALLY PATANOW

Professor Geoffrey Denny examines blades of drought-proof Zoysia turfgrass.

ADVERTISEMENT

By YVETTE C. HAMMETT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 31, 2009

BALM - Researchers are working to determine if high-tech irrigation controllers that use satellites in space can save homeowners tons of water.

The University of Florida study, commissioned by Hillsborough County, is funded by water cheaters - people who didn't follow the once-a-week watering restrictions and got busted.

Some $500,000 in water-waster fines paid for plots at UF's Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm, where scientists tested irrigation timers against high-tech evapotranspiration controllers, or "smart controllers," that use satellites, weather information and other data to determine when to turn irrigation systems on.

The first phase of the study showed an annual 43 percent water savings, said UF graduate student Stacia Davis, who is working with associate professor Michael Dukes on the water study.

She and Dukes reviewed county water records to determine where residences use the highest volumes of water for irrigation.

Researchers took their experiments to neighborhoods in Apollo Beach, Riverview and Valrico where they discovered high water use.

In the second phase, the scientists installed evapotranspiration, or ET, controllers in 20 homes and are monitoring another 18 neighbors who use traditional timers to determine when to irrigate.

"The objective of the research is to see if the (smart controllers) will save water," Davis said. "We're not looking for a particular amount of savings." Researchers want to see if homeowners see the same savings monitored regularly at the research center.

Even if the county imposes more stringent water restrictions in light of the ongoing drought, study participants will be exempt so the study isn't halted, said Norm Davis, technical director for the county's water conservation program.

It's too soon to know if the water savings will be duplicated for the homeowners, Norm Davis said. He said the county hopes to keep collecting data until 2011.

Scientists do know that the newer gadgets are complicated to program.

"These have excellent viability for golf courses and parks," he said, but they may be too complicated for the average homeowner.

The study's success so far is in what you don't see, said Geoffrey Denny, an environmental horticulturist at the Balm research center.

Two water lines were hooked up to each plot at the research center. One irrigated patches of St. Augustine grass, the other ornamental plants.

Looking across the expanse of mini urban spaces, it's nearly impossible to determine which were watered with traditional timers and which used the high-tech smart controllers - and a lot less water.

"That's kind of the idea," Denny said.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT