PETALUMA, CA – The City of Petaluma Department of Water Resources and Conservation (WRC) has announced the launch of Smart Yard, a water conservation program designed to achieve more sustainable water use for Petaluma water customers.
Smart Yard will provide a WeatherTrak smart irrigation controller to qualifying water customers at no up-front cost. Those homeowners will then pay a monthly fee of either $14.95 for one 12-station controller, or $24.95 for one 24-station controller. Homeowners in need of two controllers would simply double their monthly fee. At the end of five years (60 months), the fee goes away and the homeowner owns the controller(s).
Smart Yard is expected to help save more than 45 million gallons of water over the next five years. Furthermore, homeowners are expected to be able to reduce their outdoor water cost by 33% once a smart controller is implemented. Smart controllers automatically adjust irrigation schedules via satellite technology, taking the guesswork out of watering a lawn.
WRC is partnering with Petaluma-based HydroPoint Data Systems, Inc., provider of the WeatherTrak Smart Water Management solution, to manage the innovative water conservation program. The WeatherTrak smart irrigation contoller has been proven to conserve water in 23 public agency studies.
"The Smart Yard program makes it easy for homeowners to optimize landscape health while reducing outdoor water use," said David Iribarne, water conservation coordinator for Petaluma WRC. "HydroPoint's WeatherTrak technology has been succesfully used at Petaluma parks, medians, city schools and by numerous residential customers since 2007. The WeatherTrak controllers automatically align irrigation schedules with current local weather conditions, reduce water run-off and are helping sustain future water supplies. The Smart Yard program unites the entire Petaluma community around the common goal of saving water."
