Thanks Mike!

Yesterday was the last day that Mike was working with our group in Homestead. He has done many great things for our program - field work, videos, pictures, reports, and many other things!! We will miss seeing him everyday but look forward to seeing him on our trips to Gainesville! Here are a few memories!

Curtain call: getting smart about water savings!

I recently produced a video for the Urban Conservation Unit (UCU). This short work briefly introduces the topic of smart irrigation technology – specifically soil moisture sensors and weather-based timers.

La nouvelle vague

Though use of a simple rain sensor is adequate when it comes to preventing unnecessary irrigation events in automated systems, there are other more sophisticated options on the market to help reduce water waste.

Going underground: soil moisture sensor

The soil moisture sensor is a smart technology that uses continual real time moisture readings in the landscape to control whether a system will be allowed to water on schedule or not.

On-site: weather-based timer (below), weather sensor (top)

The weather-based timer, in this case the on-site variety, uses weather information generated from its own temperature sensor and tipping bucket rain gauge, in addition to very specific details about each irrigation zones, to estimate when and at what duration water should be applied in the landscape.

See the video here.

The numbers are in!

Jesus Lomeli: UCU schools the public

The UCU always recommends upgrading a pre-existing digital irrigation system with smart technology. Why? Because these devices save water.

A well installed and calibrated soil moisture sensor prevents irrigation until additional water application benefits the landscape.
Similarly, an accurately programmed weather-based timer on a well designed system consistently replenishes the water that each irrigation zone loses to evaporation and transpiration.

Data collecting water meters

In fact, the now concluded Landscape Irrigation Project that I have been working on assessing soil moisture sensor and, more recently, weather-based timer water savings for properties in Miami-Dade County indicates that a homeowner system can see 40% in water savings when using either of these devices year-round!

And one more thing...acknowledgements!

My South Florida-based research at an end, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the players that made this project both possible and successful.

TREC

shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Roberto “Dixie” Ramirez (ValleyCrest)

an artist with PVC pipe & trench shovel, everything I know about tearing apart and reassembling irrigation systems I owe to working alongside Dixie on system installs and redesigns.

Urban Conservation Unit

Laura Vasquez and I laid down the infrastructure, and then Mary McCready, Jesus Lomeli and I brought the effort to life. Peerless as irrigation specialists and educators, they are also my friends and colleagues por vida!

Dr. Kati Migliaccio

Our fearless leader at Water Resource Engineering, Dr. Migliaccio let me loose on a dream project that encompassed applied science, public education, customer service, urban travel and still/video media documentation and will influence whatever work I do heretofore.

Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life. Confucious

New video online: multi-stream madness!

I recently produced a new video for the Urban Conservation Unit (UCU). This micro-video revisits the topic of the multi-stream spray nozzle as a more efficient alternative to the conventional spray nozzle.


Gone with the wind

conventional spray nozzle

The multi-stream nozzle is preferable to the spray nozzle because it is not as prone to wind drift and it applies water at a more efficient rate.

These are two critical points because the first rule in landscape irrigation is always hit the intended target! Further, due to the prevalence of head mixing in South Florida systems (putting slow watering rotors and quick watering sprays on the same zone)…

Rotor v. spray: everyone loses!

...adding multi-stream nozzles to spray heads in this context can help correct watering imbalances and compensate for poor zone design.

This video demonstrates simple methods for retrofitting spray nozzles on both pop-up heads and risers.

We few, we happy few

Before: array of sprays on a grass strip

Thanks in part to the UCU’s efforts and a handful of trail blazing contractors, we now encounter multi-stream nozzles more and more during our irrigation system assessments throughout Miami-Dade County.

After: array of multi-streams on a grass strip

See the video here.

Be still my heart: drip line for a shrub zone (L) and multi-stream for turf zone (R)!

SFWMD officials visit to TREC and C-111 project sites

Mrs Pamela Lehr and Dr. Wossenu Abtew from the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) visited the Tropical and Research and Education Center (TREC) and monitoring sites of the C-111 project that is funded by SFWMD. The activities included a seminar by Dr. Abtew titled; “El Niño Southern Oscillation Link to South Florida Hydrology and Water Management”, lunch at a local Thai restaurant and visits to all six C-111 project groundwater and soil water monitoring stations. We enjoyed having the SFWMD officials over and below are some pictures:

Dr. Abtew giving a seminar at TREC
Dr. Migliaccio showing Mrs Lehr and Dr. Abtew the instrumentation we have at site C111AE for monitoring soil water, the groundwater level at this site is monitored by SFWMD
Mrs Dispenza explaining some of the handles experienced during weekly data downloadsDr. Migliaccio explaining the instrumentation we have at site AK6 for monitoring soil water and groundwater level.

At the Symposium: judging and presenting!

Today was poster presentation day at the 3rd Water Institute Symposium at the University of Florida.

Nicki's poster before the stampede

Step right up!

Masters student Nicki Dobbs presented a poster entitled Interactive Tool for Simulating Water Management in a Virtual Turfgrass System.

Nicki schools attendees about her work

Once the exhibition session formally commenced, Ms. Dobbs was beset by a constant influx of inquisitive onlookers and passersby, with the occasional poster judge thrown into the mix.

So nice they used it twice

Meanwhile, while on my campus travels I came upon a curious oddity: a purple spinkler cap on a spray head near a bus stop. Eager to learn what manufacturer would be so bold as to market a purple cap, I went in for a closer look only to find, in large lettering, the message: DO NOT DRINK.

I later learned, courtesy of Dr. Michael Dukes, that much of the landscape irrigation on the UF campus uses reclaimed water. Read more about that here.

But wait, there's more!

Our final day in Gainesville promises to be eventful, as I am assisting a strawberry harvesting crew in nearby Citra, and Nicki learns about the award status of her poster.

Feb-15-2012 Fieldwork at C-111

Fieldwork went on fine we downloaded all the level loggers and EnviroScans successfully. In addition Tina and I did some cleaning up around all our monitoring sites. The weeds had taken over at most of the sites. Below are some pictures.

VC1 after clean up

VC2 Before clean up

VC2 after clean up

Gainesville bound!

A portion of the Water Resource Team is in Gainesville for the next several days to attend the 3rd Water Institute Symposium at the University of Florida.

Dr. Kati Migliaccio is in attendance to moderate several discussion panels as well as assist with the judging of student poster presentations.

N. A. Dobbs: wind readings in the field plot

Masters student Nicki Dobbs is attending the symposium to present a poster of a study entitled: Interactive Tool for Simulating Water Management in a Virtual Turfgrass System.

Early poster draft

Watch this space for continuing coverage of our adventures at the UF main campus and its surrounding environs.