Smart Irrigation.  Using smart controllers and sensors that adjust and conserve is a step in the right direction.  I believe strongly in switching from pop up spray irrigation to drip irrigation.  Low pressure and drip irrigation is much friendlier to the environment and our water supplies.  Pop up irrigation is very wasteful.  Drive through any neighborhood and you will see sprinklers running for hours, in the rain, spraying the sidewalks and the street, and running into the street drain.  Step into the lush green irrigated grass and you may lose a shoe in the mud.  Even well maintained pop up irrigation systems, running at their best, use more water by high  pressure atomizing, and needing to spread more water to hit all the surface area.

Proper landscape design and intelligent irrigation design should go hand in hand.  Using plants that thrive in the region without irrigation, or with minimal irrigation and still look good is an art and a science.  It takes real skill.  So does good irrigation.  It may not be conventional, but drip is smart.  The government, in many areas, and in more areas every year, is restricting irrigation usage.  It is coming.  Low pressure and drip irrigation uses less water than conventional pop up spray irrigation. 

Collecting rainwater for irrigation purposes, as  well as storm water relief, is just smart.  We  should have thought of it before.  We will use less  water, lower our water bills, relieve public water demand and storm water overload, and be able to irrigate without restriction.  We must use the water wisely. It would be a waste of effort to collect rainwater, store and filter it, and then waste it over-watering with conventional pop up irrigation.  A smarter way to irrigate is lower pressure, low volume, or "drip" irrigation. 

Drip irrigation is not new, and up until now, not without problems.  Low pressure drip systems are subject to clogging and uneven watering rates due to gravity.  Also, drip emitters must be placed at the base of each plant and sized according to the plants needs.  This can be complicated and hard to get right.  It can also be unsightly with the maze of small tubing and connectors.   These tubes are frequently damaged in the garden, rendering the system obsolete, all the water will leak out of the damaged tube and not reach the other plants. Drip emiters can't be used on lawn and ground cover areas. Drip emitters are best  suited to individual plants or  containers, usually one or more per plant depending on size.

Pressurized drip irrigation systems work much better.  Clogs are eliminated, and low and high elevations are compensated.  By pressurizing drip systems the water is evenly distributed, with no waste.

The only problems with pressurized drip is its propensity to pop up.  Drip irrigation tubes under pressure will work their way up out of the softer excavated trench.   The pressure shakes the soil above the tube, and the water settles the loose soil below the tube, leaving an ugly tube popped up in the middle of the yard or garden.  Not too bad if it happens once.  It usually happens in dozens of places.  Then, they get mowed.  Lawn care or gardening usually damages the popped up tubing, and the whole system is kaput. Repairs are not  that hard, but it is almost impossible to keep the tubes under ground after repair.  The metal or plastic ground staples don't hold.  Much water is wasted by broken irrigation systems. 

I HAVE A SOLUTION.
I have a patent pending idea to combine 2 existing products in a novel way to create a new use that answers the aforementioned problems and simplifies drip irrigation installation.  My invention combines drip irrigation tubing with 3 dimensional turf reinforcing grid.  The tubes are spaced in the grid to meet the needs of the intended plantings (lawn, ground covers, flowers.  24", 18", or 12" spacing.)  The grid is a large roll that is unrolled onto the surface to be planted, connected, covered with soil and planting medium, screeded  and planted.  The irrigation system is installed that simply.  The tubes are protected by the turf reinforcing grid.  The grid is designed and used to stabilize lawn areas that are high traffic, prevent settling, puddling, erosion, and rutting.  Currently the grids are used primarily in public parks and for green roads and parking areas.  These areas are currently irrigated with the more wasteful pop  up irrigation systems.  Many times where turf reinforcing grid is used in conjunction with pop up irrigation, the higher traffic loads damages  the pop up aparatus.  The new Drip irrigation grid will alleviate this problem. 

Detail of the drip irrigation grid system which comes in rolls.

The drip irrigation grid uses less water and operates at lower pressure than conventional pop up irrigation, protects and covers the irrigation system, protects the lawn or planted area, and simplifies installation.  The system can easily be retrofitted over existing lawns and attached to existing irrigation systems.  Smart drip irrigation grids can save money and the earth at the same time.  The grids can be combined with rainwater harvest sytems to use water smart.  Let's do our part to save the world.

Furthermore, current stormwater management practices  can  benefit from the drip irrigation grid system.  Traditonal stormwater management involves retention ponds at the low point of every new building or development. Forward  thinking engineers, landscape architects, and developers are looking  for better ways.  Many alternatives are being  explored.  Some  of the methods are storing stormwater under parking or green space, bio-swales, rain gardens, permeable paving surfaces, and green roofs, among others.  I applaud these methods, and have used many of them.  I add to  these methods a new idea, furthering  the green movement and stewardship of the land. 

In conjunction with other best practices of stormwater management, the  drip irrigation grid system can aid groundwater  infiltration, freeing up valuable  real estate to be developed at a profit.  For instance, a project may involve storing stormwater under a parking area that is also permiable, using that water for irrigation, dispersal and infiltration, and using the green space for overflow parking.  This rainwater harvesting, stormwater management, and space efficiency is not only environmentally responsible, it is profitable as well.  Space can be developed more efficiently.  This is  a win win.  Good for the environment and developers at the   same time.

Please contact Kevin Soergel at 724 444 POND or info@YourEscapes.net for more information.