Money-saving Smart Irrigation Controllers
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Technology
A new study evaluated homeowners' satisfaction with evapotranspiration (ET)-based and soil moisture sensor (SMS)-based smart technologies and recommends strategies to promote consumers' use of the controllers
Smart irrigation controllers, technologies used to decrease landscape water applications, are catching on in Florida. Incentivized by governmental agencies and water utilities in an effort to reduce public-supply water demand and conserve water resources, the controllers are becoming more popular with homeowners in this high water-use state. A new study evaluated homeowners' satisfaction with evapotranspiration (ET)-based and soil moisture sensor (SMS)-based smart technologies, and recommends strategies to promote consumers' use of the controllers.
Maria C. Morera, corresponding author of the study ( HortTechnology , August 2015), said that most research on smart controllers for urban landscapes has focused mainly on the technology's performance. "To successfully promote smart irrigation controllers, feedback from end-users is critical," she explained. Morera and colleagues surveyed homeowners who were part of a pilot project conducted in Orange County, Florida.
The researchers said the survey results point to four main findings. "First, a majority of survey participants with smart irrigation technology were generally satisfied with their controllers and planned to continue using them. A second finding is that a significantly greater number of survey participants with SMS controllers experienced challenges, dissatisfaction, and scored lower on tests designed to gauge familiarity with the workings of their devices than did survey participants with ET controllers."
Source: Phys.org
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