Water Saving

Water Saving Devices

Rain sensor

There are many water saving devices available,but only a few can save significant amounts of water in the home and garden. One simple device that can save water is a gutter mounted rain shut off device which stops the system from operating when rain has fallen. Once the rainwater evaporates out of the device, irrigation is permitted to operate as per normal. If fitted to a bore, these devices must be connected to the pump start circuit to avoid the pump starting with no valves being turned on.

(left) Rainfall sensors are a valuable addition to the irrigation system.






Soil moisture sensors

Soil moisture sensors (right) detect the amount of moisture in the soil and suspend irrigation when the soil moisture is at a specified level. Potential for water saving is high and these are likely to increase as the technology improves. The major difficulty is that soil moisture and plant requirements vary widely in the typical garden which means multiple sensors and a multiplying of the complexity and cost.