It's Something Like a Traffic Accident

We had gotten off to a later start than intended so, when I saw the emergency lights ahead of us on I35, I groaned inside.  We were doing some work for a WalMart in Austin and we’re always conscious of the time because it takes a while to get there and get back. 

As it turned out, there was an accident but it was on the other side of the interstate.  A truck had completely blocked traffic and cars were backed up as far as we could see.  I was ashamed of myself for thinking I was glad it was “them” and not “us.”  We headed along our merry way for several minutes when I realized the traffic was still stopped.  It had been MILES.  Finally, we came to the end of the pack with new cars just now having to break to a halt.  

Because of my vantage point, I could see something they couldn’t.   Something inside me wanted to jump out of the car and yell, “Stop!  Get off the road!  Go eat, shop, ANYTHING!  You are going to be stopped here for HOURS if you don’t do something now!”

I didn’t, of course.

We continued down the road thinking about those poor travelers and how fortunate we were to not have been involved.  

It may seem to be an obtuse shift, but can we talk about water?  I believe we are in the same place as those unfortunate travelers.  By that, I mean there are already conditions in place that mask themselves now but will become imminently clear later.  

Think about it.  We have no less water now than we did on the day of Creation.  The issue is location, timing and purity.   This blog isn’t the forum to inform you on details, but I would hope you will be enlightened enough to start paying attention to how you use and waste water.  

We know a substantial portion of the water you use is outside (some say 70%).  So, if you are going to have a real impact on your water use, it probably isn’t going to be with a low-flow shower head--although that helps, too.  

That’s why we have a mission her at Rainstat Irrigation.  We want you to use all the water you need, and not a drop more.

We want to help you become a conservation hero while saving you money on your water bill.  Our Smart Controller for your sprinkler system saves anywhere from 20% to 50% on your water bill.  

Please call me.  My cell number is 254/744-1724.  You may be surprised at what you can do.  And if we all do our little part . . . 

The Well Went Dry

I think we paid $17,000 for our 16 acres.  It had a hand-dug well that all the local old-timers said had never run dry.  We had a house moved onto the land and got to work.  That was in June.  We were working on the house (a fixer upper), building fence, planting and loving it.  Our three kids were very young, and we all pitched in with everyone doing what they could.   It was great. 

August was hot.  Dry, too.  You know how Texas’ summers can get.   Anyway, the well went dry. 

I can remember the feeling of ruin when I realized that this wasn’t going to get better.  The well was dry, dry, dry.   We had a garden and some livestock.  We needed to take baths.  We needed to cook and drink.  We could do all of that, just not at home. 

Oh, and did I mention we couldn’t afford to get a new well dug? 

We had a relative that lived about a half mile away that agreed to let us use from her well.  We hauled water in opened-topped five gallon buckets, usually on the back of a Honda, Big Red three-wheeler.

One of the things we liked about this land was a wet-weather creek that ran through it.  The previous owner had pushed a tank on the creek for watering livestock.  We actually enjoyed fording the creek in wet times and the dry-times rumble tumble experience didn’t inconvenience any of us.  Until now. 

Our one toilet was one of those pre-efficient ones. It took five gallons of water to flush one time.  To put it another way, one flush demanded a one-mile round trip on a three-wheeler with a sloshing, overflowing, getting-you-wet, going-bouncy-through-the- creek bucket of water that sometimes didn’t have enough to do the deed by the time you got there.  Somehow the dictionary’s “a strong, unpleasant smell” doesn’t quite convey what is in my head when I say that often our house stunk. 

I may forget it someday, that Saturday morning, when Carmen, my wife’s college friend, just showed up at our house.   She and her family explained that they had lost our phone number, so they wrote us they were coming.  (We received her letter the following Monday.)  When you live on the back side of 16 acres that’s outside the city limits of a town with less than 400 souls, pop-ins are the exception to the norm.   It’s hard to remember, but I think we were about a month into the well-ran-dry period of our life.  We planned to work that day, which is to say none of us had made the effort to bathe, wash dishes or anything else requiring water.  We stunk, the house stunk and our “Oh, we’re so glad to see you” was, I’m sure, tainted by the mind-scream of  “Oh, I wish we had gotten your letter.”  We explained and they were very gracious, but that will forever be “my most uncomfortable moment.”  And water was the culprit. 

For all you “location, location, location” folks, I came up-close to the realization that land without water has a lower value than land with water.  How much less?  About 100%. 

I, again, don’t remember the details, but we gathered up enough coins to have Billy Harris come out and drill us a well.  It was a good well with cold, sweet water, and everyone lived happily ever after.   We have since sold that beautiful place and moved on.  We have city water now, and our house is clean and smells good.  We shower, brush our teeth, wash dishes, water the yard and flush the toilet without a thought.  

Could it happen again?  What’s your answer?   Could it? 

Here’s the take-home from this true story:  

--Yes, it could indeed.  Water could be unavailable–very easily.--

One way is quick.  If you lost electricity, you would be without water fast.  And there would be absolutely nothing you could do about it but say, “Go, man, go!” to the utility guys.   But, let’s say they went home because they couldn’t fix it.  The source, the generator, went down.  If you will let your mind consider your state, you will see you are in exactly the same position we were almost 30 years ago, with one huge exception.  You would have no place to haul water from.  (And, your car would have had its last tank of gasoline because there was no way to pump the fuel.)  Bottled water?  Sure, buy all you can, but watch out for that increasingly desperate mob that is trying to beat you to the punch.  Like everyone else, be sure and buy a lot because you have now discovered, how incredibly valuable water is. 

The other real possibility is one you won’t even consider and that is the loss of your water supply.  The fact is, this is where almost every US city is headed right now unless something happens.  What “something”?  Either new sources of water are going to have to be discovered or we are going to have to use less water.  Maybe a lot less water. 

That’s my call to you.  Start using less water.  Use just what you need, but no more. We have started a water catchment system at our house.  We are using “just enough water” to water our lawn.  We’ve installed a low-flow shower head, and our toilet uses a fraction of the old style.

It’s made a difference on our water bill even though we’re in the baby-steps stage.  But, if we all did what we could, when we could, the cumulative affect could be future-changing. 

You have choices now.  Please make wise ones.  

Comments?  Please let me hear. 

Business is Good––But It’s Not All Our Fault

We try to do the best we can.  But, as far as I know, no one else in the area does what we do. We don’t install sprinkler systems.  We don’t mow grass.  We don’t do landscaping.  We don’t spray weeds. 

All we do is repair and upgrade sprinkler systems.

And we think we know why that’s important. 

Installing a sprinkler system is pretty simple after you do it a couple hundred times.  Everything is under the installer’s control.  S/he plans the system, digs the trenches, connects the pipes, plumbs the heads, runs the wires and connects them to the controller mounted in the garage.  Before s/he covers everything up, the workers compare what they sees on the ground to the plan.  

Put another way, if you have workers that understand how to put all the pieces together and how to run a trencher, then the most important piece in the puzzle is the sprinkler Plan.  If the Plan is engineered correctly and the workers did what they were supposed to do, voilà!, it’s done.

––––

Please, now, consider repair.  Everything’s been running fine for years until . . .

Zone three quit working.  (If you are picturing what I have in my mind, the skill difference between someone who installs a sprinkler system and someone who repairs one, is evident and huge.)  There is nothing visual to indicate 1. that zone three has quit working or 2. that this yard even has a sprinkler system! 

Who are you going to call?  Here’s your choices: 1. The landscaper/irrigator/mower/jack-of-all-trades person who charges by the hour, or, 2. the one who does sprinkler repair only and guarantees his price and gets your okay before he ever starts the job?

If you chose the sprinkler repair specialist with the guaranteed up-front price, may I respectfully submit Rainstat Irrigation as your provider? 

Please call Drew at 254.829.3800 to schedule a free, no-obligation an up-front quote that we call a Promise.

Are We Running Out of Water?

You can hardly move around in this world without hearing about the water crisis.  "In the 20th century, we went to war over oil.  In the 21st century, we will go to war over water."  Really?  Before we go further, know that I'm biased.  I believe that governments and news media have a propensity to attempt to keep everyone scared.   It's like everyone graduated from the Chicken Little School of Outlook.  I am reading this book, Unquenchable - America's Water Crisis and What To Do About It, with my own set of filters that are ready to reject Robert Glennon's premise out of hand.

So why are we "running out" of water, and why should we care?   We have exactly the same amount of water today that we did at creation.  Remember Einstein's "matter is neither created nor destroyed"?  What then, is the problem?

First, we have more people.  

Second, we are fouling our own nests by our cavalier handling of fresh water.   Most of our water is saline and, therefore, undrinkable.  A look at our surface fresh water is telling.  The Great Lakes own 95% of fresh water in the US.  It would be an understatement to say these lakes are big.  But, if you want to see what can happen when you mix big bodies of water with bad decisions, all you have to do is look at the former USSR and the Aral Sea.  This was the world's fourth-largest inland body of water.  Today, it has lost 90% of it's water.  It all started by diverting fresh water that flowed into it for "good" but short-sighted purposes.  

If we continue to write checks without deposits to at least equal the withdrawals, we end up with no money.   All of life needs water to continue living.  We will run out, however, if we use too much.  We can't supply more water, so the role of the steward is becoming more important.  

We see a small role here.  

We believe we can help ensure that the the water you use is not wasted. 

Thanks for your interest.  More and more, I believe this is going to be of interest to us all.

Doug Saylor

P.S. I've changed my title here to CWS, Chief Water Steward.  I'm taking this seriously. 

Drainage

You know you need drainage help when water is where it’s not supposed to be.

Needs:
The most obvious need is when heavy rains bring water into the house or garage. Drainage needs also show up when rain washes dirty water into your pool or rain forms a stagnant pond.
Although we are not foundation experts, we have seen our heavy clay soils reek havoc to foundations that have a fluctuating moisture content. Keeping puddles of water away from your foundation may help.

Solutions:
We will use gravity instead of pumps because gravity never quits. Pumps have their place, but often our heaviest rains are accompanied by electricity-interrupting conditions--which, of course, makes the solution no solution at all. Proper drainage is accomplished by placing one or several catch-basins where water accumulates. These catch-basins are connected to an underground piping system that carries the water down to a lower discharge point.

Result:
What we’re trying to accomplish is a landscape that accepts all the water it can, and then discharges any excess to the city’s waste-water treatment system. In rural areas, we are simply trying to find an on-purpose place for the water to go.

Methods:
We cut our teeth in this business as landscapers, so maintaining an excellent, scar-free landscape is our primary goal. A normal installation will involve cutting the turf off the top of the trench, opening the trench, leveling it to an acceptable grade, installing the pipe and basins, backfilling the trench and re-installing the original sod. We try to make it look like we were never there.

Pricing:
Every drain job we have ever done has been very different. That’s okay because we will come out to your property with a transit and other measuring devices and give you an up-front price. Free. We call it a Promise because we don’t want people to confuse what we do with an estimate. Our Promise price will be your invoice price.

It's That Transition Time of Year

This is the hardest time of year to keep your sprinkler's controller up-to-date because the weather is changing. It's that time of year when a Rainstat Smart Controller does the most good and saves you the most money. Here's why:

During July and August it is HOT. Everyone knows it's going to be hot and your landscape is going to require a lot of water. Your water bill weighs a little more in your mail box during the summer and there's not a lot you can do about it. If it is 105º outside, there is going to be tremendous evaporation and your plants are going to be growing their fastest.

Likewise, when winter hits and we are dipping below the freeze mark every night, you don't need much water at all.

So, the time to install a Smart Controller in right now, during the transition time.

What is a Smart Controller, you say?

A Smart Controller replaces your present controller. The new controller "talks" to your on-site weather station so you water just enough each day. Never too little or too much. And you never have to touch it. It changes and "programs" itself daily.

We would be glad to show you one and give you an idea of what to expect. The new controller pays for itself in reducing the amount you are already spending on your water bill. And, your landscape will actually do better while saving you money.

Interested? Call me. My cell number is 254.744.1724.

Home Owners' Associations Wasting Water?

Home Owners' Associations may be wasting a lot of money on their water bill. Why? Because they are set up to be the perfect water wasting machine. Everyone in the Association pays into the the fund that pays the water bill.

The one that pays the water bill has nothing to compare to, so the bill gets paid as a "normal" expense. So the sprinkler system runs during the rain, (very bad for PR, but not that big an impact on the bill), waters the same amount whether it needs it or not, and has been shown to be watering up to 100% too much.

The HOA scenario is exactly the same as just about every sprinkler system around with one huge difference. Some Home Owners' Associations are paying tens of thousands of dollars in water bills.

A Rainstat Controller could be saving that Association from 20% to 50% of that expense. We're talking about some real money here that could be spent on other areas or used to reduce fees or offset future increases . . .

We are in the process of preparing proposals for some Waco HOAs with very aggressive pricing. We want to make a point that the old, dumb controllers need to go away. They require you to make decisions you aren't equipped to make.

Dumb controllers require you to convert your "inches of rain" thoughts into "days and minutes" actions. You have all the weather information you need--probably on your cell phone. But how on earth do you translate that into the language your dumb controller speaks?

If you do get it figured out, it goes out of date the next time the weather changes.

A Rainstat Smart Controller replaces just the water your plants use and reprograms itself every day! So it becomes impossible to waste water through over-watering or runoff.

Are you a member of a Home Owners' Association? Do you know of a Home Owners' Association that waters large areas of common area grass? Tell them to call us for a Value Proposal that reflects an actual Return on Investment. It's free.

Call Drew at 254.829.3800 or Doug at 254.744.1724 to schedule a site visit.

Is It Time to Update Your Technology?

Picture a chisel and a rock vs. a pencil.

Or, how about a more up-to-date comparison of a ledger book and a computer with accounting software. The old way still works but the new way is better (faster, cheaper . . . ).

That's the way the Rainstat controller is. Your old sprinkler controller still works, but it is obsolete. Throw it away. Quickly.

The new controller is the same forward step you took when you got a controller in the first place (instead of turning on manual valves).

Maybe I'm wrong. Let Rainstat Irrigation look at your sprinkler system. We will both know within 10 minutes if it is a good move for you.

Call now to talk to a real person (most of the time). 254.829.3800

Self-Serving Change In Tag Line

"The best way to repair or upgrade your sprinkler system without getting soaked." It's self-serving chest-thumping, I know. But in thinking about how we go about the relatively simple task of replacing a sprinkler head, we do it so you should NEVER have to address that head again!

Does it cost more? That depends on whether your looking at cost from the initial expense to get the job done or the cost over the life of your system. The answer is probably "yes" and "no." Yes, it probably will cost you more to have it done right as apposed to just unscrewing one head and screwing another in its place. No, when you consider that you should never ever have to address that head again.

It's the old "pay me now or pay me later" reply, but if that head has to be repaired again (because your riding lawn mower broke the riser again), you shot yourself in the foot by paying too little.

Here's the new tag line, "The best way to permanently repair or upgrade your sprinkler system without getting soaked."

Okay. I feel better now. What do you think?

Doug Saylor
Rainstat Irrigation
254.829.3800

The New Cost of a Sprinkler System-Count Your Zones

Perhaps you have just moved into a home that does not have a sprinkler system, or you're building a new home. Maybe you've read that the addition of a sprinkler system is smart, both from a resale standpoint and as a necessary convenience. So you call around to get some prices from a few companies. (In case you didn't know, Rainstat rarely installs a sprinkler system. We just repair and upgrade them.) Do you go with the lowest? How about the highest? How do you know?

The cost of a sprinkler system is normally thought of as the initial cost--the cost to get it installed. But, how much does it cost to operate? We believe you need to consider operating costs because it is inevitable that costs are going to go up. Maybe a lot.

What factors do you consider when you are trying to determine how much it costs to operate your new or existing system? The process of calculating your system's precipitation rate, a water audit, (some cities that are running out of water are requiring it. Not here, thankfully.) is more complicated than we want to go into here. It can be calculated if you know each head's flow and distance or by literally placing tuna cans all over your yard and measuring the water in the cans over a set amount of time. Call this the Left Brain approach.

Your sprinkler controller, aka "clock" or "the box on the wall," turns your sprinkler system on and turns it off. That's it. Simple. But the decision of how long it stays on for each zone is the critical factor in your operating costs. How is your system broken up into separate, distinct zones? Do you water the shady part of your yard on the same zone you water the sunny part? The shady part needs less water. Is there any way for you to let that part run less than the sunny part? If not, you have a decision to make, "Do I water log the shady part or starve the sunny part?"

These areas are called "hydrozones." And the more accurately you group similar plant materials, shade and slopes, the more efficient you can be--which normally means more is better. But here's the rub.

Your irrigation contractor wants you to have the absolute best system money can buy, but he knows you don't know how to judge that. He also wants you to choose him and knows that his competitor is also bidding this system. So he compromises. He designs your system by covering the area with as few zones as your water supply will allow. Lower price now, higher price every month after that, forever.

What's the difference in price? Easily double--or more! Will you recoup that? Yes, but it can take some time--or maybe not. That's your call.

The bottom line is this: Every new sprinkler system MUST have a scale drawing that shows each head and each zone's area. Under the new rules that went into effect in 2009 it MUST also show every major tree (shade) and hardscape (sun exposure). Look at the plans. Did the irrigator divide your zones by hydrozones? If s/he did, it is probably more expensive initially and cheaper to run.

Now you can get that calculator out and engage your left brain again. Happy calculating!

P.S. If you want to really save water, let us install our smart controller and weather station. It programs itself every day so no water is wasted. Ever.

Thanks for reading!

September, The Foothills of Winter

September is when the weather breaks. Usually. It's a "transitional period" sprinkler-wise. And, it's one of the most water-wasting times for sprinkler system owners and managers because it is still summer and summer schedules seem to be sticky.

Here's the averages you need to start with: The average rainfall for Waco in September is 3". The need for water as expressed in the evapotranspiration (ET) rate is 5.7". So you need to replace 2.7 inches for the month. The reality of it though is the 2.7" needs to be weighted toward the first half of the month when, like today, Labor Day, it is supposed to be in the upper 90s.

So, if you don't yet have a Rainstat Controller (it makes your adjustments for exact water savings every day), please pay attention to your sprinkler's schedule and make the transitional adjustments.

Specifically, I'd stay with my August need of 5.7" until we start seeing some high temperatures in the mid 80s with cool nights. Then I'd drop the schedule to 25% of the August run-times.

Is all this Greek? Call me at 254.829.3800. It all has to do with conserving water (and saving you money) while keeping your landscape vibrant and healthy. The Rainstat Controller is a "Green" or "Smart" controller. It's like a thermostat for your yard.(sm)

Thanks for reading,
Doug

More help on our web site

The Rainstat Controller and Weather Station solves the problem of scheduling your sprinkler system for water savings and a beautiful landscape. But what if you don't want to spend $1k to avail yourself of this new device?

Answer: Program your controller to cooperate with the weather. You may have discovered that your weather man talks about "inches of rain" while your controller talks about "minutes of run-time." What we have here is a failure to communicate.

Please stay tuned. We are in the process of writing a free white paper on programing your controller correctly and continuously in conjunction with a redesign of our web site.

More later . . .

If you don't want to jump through these hoops, get a Rainstat Controller. It's like a thermostat for your yard.

Can we agree on what is Complicated?

Today's home sprinkler system tools would utterly fail if they modeled how your air conditioner worked in your home. You would have to look at the hour by hour weather forecast, and schedule your air conditioner to come on when the inside temperature got uncomfortable. But before you could do that, you would have to know 1. how long it takes for the outside temperature to raise the temperature in your house and, 2. you would have to know how long it took to lower the temperature once the a/c started.

Let's say you knew these two necessary bits of information and could calculate when your air conditioner should come on and how long it needed to run. Fine, but now you need to have some way of turning it off at the right time and turning it back on when it gets too hot.

Thankfully, you have a thermostat. It senses the current, inside temperature regardless of how hot it is outside, compares that current temperature to the desired temperature (set by you, once) and either turns the a/c on or off.

Yet a few people have told me that setting their sprinkler system by predicting when their yard needs water is simple and that setting the Rainstat controller (once forever) is complicated.

I believe that some of these objectors are really saying, "I'm afraid to give up control of my watering schedule because I'm afraid I won't be able to afford the water bill." Keep in mind that the Rainstat Controller has proven itself in saving between 20% and 50% on your annual water bill. That is assuming that your landscape was green before and you want it to stay green.

Granted, if your grass is in a state of stress all summer because you will not water the inch and a half it needs each week during our Waco summers, you have reason for concern. But if your grass is green now, giving up control of when and how much it runs will be as hard as it is to set your thermostat on 72 degrees and enjoying the automatic cool.

That's why we say, "It's like having a thermostat for your yard." Please call us today at 829-3800 to get all your questions answered.