Thousands of residents and business owners in Southern California are saving almost 1 million gallons of water a day, under a unique pilot program to introduce the latest outdoor water-saving technology.

Metropolitan Water District and the Family of Southern California Water Agencies have upgraded more than 5,000 homes and businesses in six Southland counties over the past two years to water-saving, “smart” sprinkler controllers, a technological quantum leap from the traditional landscape timer.

Instead of watering according to a preset schedule, smart controllers gather information on changing weather conditions and time of year before automatically adjusting watering schedules to meet outdoor landscape needs.

The majority of these smart controller upgrades were made possible through a $1.8 million Proposition 13 grant from the California Department of Water Resources. 

“We’re encouraged by the success Metropolitan and its member agencies are experiencing with smart controllers,” said Dave Todd, DWR land and water use program manager.  “They’ve been able to overcome implementation obstacles using a good adaptive management approach. 

“We’re looking forward to reviewing their final program results and hope their successful strategies can help other agencies,” Todd added.

Introduced three years ago, smart controllers adapt and enhance a technology employed by sophisticated landscape maintenance professionals on golf courses, parks and other large landscapes for homeowner and commercial use.

“These controllers take the guesswork out of figuring out a lawn watering schedule,” said Andy Hui, manager of Metropolitan’s regional water efficiency programs.  “These state-of-the-art devices monitor your garden’s or landscape’s environmental conditions and water your plants, accordingly.  One study showed water savings of up to 40 gallons per household per day, or about 10 percent of total water use.”

Since installing his smart controller a few months ago, Glendora homeowner Doug Loukota has seen noticeably less run-off from his landscapes.

“Since I installed and programmed it myself, I haven’t had to pay a lot of attention to it.  It just does its thing figuring out how much water the shrubs and grass need,” Loukota said.

John Rossi, general manager of the Western Municipal Water District, said more than 600 weather-based irrigation controllers have been distributed in Western’s 510-square-mile service area in southwest Riverside County.

"Those controllers will save nearly 3,500 acre-feet of water or enough water for 7,000 families.  Conservation programs such as these are important elements of our water supply mix,” Rossi said. Overall, rebates were offered by agencies in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties.

The smart controller swap and rebate program is part of a regional effort to heighten awareness of smart controllers and other new water-saving devices rebated by Metropolitan and its member agencies.

Click here for more information on Metropolitan’s conservation and rebate programs.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving 18 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage, and other resource-management programs.