Water-Saving Tips for Businesses

Drip irrigation is a precise, slow, direct system of applying water to the soil, which makes 100% of the water available to the plant. Where drip systems release one to four gallons of water per hour, traditional sprayheads release up to four or more gallons per minute. The environmental and water-saving benefits of drip include decreased run-off, evaporation, and overspray.

Bubblers are a form of precise watering that delivers water deep into the soil – hence, it is especially useful around plants that have deep roots, such as trees. Bubblers are also useful in certain planter boxes where traditional sprinklers will not work. Bubblers are durable, require little maintenance, require minimal filtration, minimize overspray and evaporation,and have an easily adjustable flow rate.

Stream rotors replace traditional pop-up sprayheads – that is, you simply screw the old top (the nozzle) off the pop-up and screw the stream rotor back in its place. Compared to traditional sprayheads, stream rotors are fairly water conserving and only release about 25 percent of the water per minute: reducing evaporation and reducing runoff. Stream rotors work well where you need to water a lot of plants that have fairly short root systems, like many groundcovers and bunchgrasses. The alternative irrigation system is to run an extensive drip system.

Hydrozoning is the grouping of plants with similar watering needs together. In this practice, each respective area is referred to as a hydrozone. Hydrozoning makes it easier to irrigate efficiently by letting you concentrate additional water only to where it is needed. Hydrozoning, combined with a water efficient irrigation system, will maximize the water savings potential of your garden and save you the most money on your water bill.