Overwatering controller for landscape irrigation systems

Abstract

Water conservation in metropolitan areas of Arizona is critical if limited water resources are to meet current and future demands. Timer controlled landscape irrigation systems contribute to a large portion of municipal water use, and there is currently a great potential for water savings when deficit irrigation is practiced. Such systems tend to forfeit deficit irrigation by overwatering vegetation; however, deficit irrigation may be improved if the number of irrigation cycles are reduced based on sensing soil water in the plant root zone. A patent pending electronic circuit, called the overwatering controller, has been developed and tested for this purpose. Test results show the overwatering controller has great potential as a water conservation and deficit irrigation management tool.