Installing and setting triggers for your smart irrigation controller
A smart irrigation controller automatically adjusts watering based on local weather conditions. For example when it rains the smart irrigation controller will reduce or turn off your irrigation to save you water.
It works by automatically turning your watering up and down according to weather triggers you input into the controller. This is great for saving water and, if you input the right triggers, should also make your garden even healthier - remember to keep an eye on your garden, adjusting the triggers if your garden is looking thirsty or waterlogged.
In Darwin, a smart irrigation controller can tap into the local Weather Web, a network of over 30 weather stations that Living Water Smart have installed on local schools to provide localised weather data for most suburbs.
Generally installation of a smart irrigation controller requires:
- Access to a sufficient Wi-Fi signal at the position of the smart irrigation controller.
- Setting up of a user account in an online portal or app.
- Programming the controller with an appropriate watering schedule via weather triggers either at the controller’s interface or your web portal or app.
Living Water Smart recommends engaging an irrigation professional to install your smart irrigation controller. It is just one part of your overall automatic irrigation system and it is important that your irrigation is designed, installed and maintained properly and that your watering schedules are efficient and suitable for your garden, lawn and plant types. To help with the cost, we suggest you first get a free Garden Tune Up through one of our registered irrigators.
If you choose to set up your smart irrigation controller yourself, Living Water Smart has developed recommended triggers to ensure water efficiency for the Darwin climate and conditions and the health and vibrancy of your garden.
Whilst each smart irrigation controller will have different functionality for entering triggers, most will have a section for actual weather events and a section for predictive weather events. Here are Living Water Smart’s guidelines for each:
Actual weather events:
- Turn off irrigation when it rains over 10 mm.
- Decrease irrigation by 50% when it rains over 5 mm.
- Turn off irrigation when the last 7 days rainfall is higher than 30 mm.
Predictive weather events:
- Increase irrigation by 20% if forecast temperature is over 35 degrees.
- Delay irrigation if wind speeds over 50 km/hr are forecast.
- Delay irrigation when the chance of rain is over 95%.
