May 21, 2008
From Western Interiors & Design
By Bruce Greenlaw
It's easy to overwater our landscapes, wasting drinking water and creating so much runoff that it causes structural damage, plant disease, erosion, pollution and inflated water bills. Give plants the exact amount of water they need when they need it, and the problems disappear. That's what HydroPoint's WeatherTRAK ET plus smart irrigation controller can do. Enter basic information about your landscape, such as plant, soil, slope and sprinkler type. After that, the controller wirelessly gathers data from thousands of weather stations and automatically tailors your irrigation in response to the weather, reducing outdoor water usage by up to 59 percent and runoff by up to 71 percent. The controller costs $509 and up, and then you typically pay $48 per year.