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County launches smart-irrigation pilot to track residential water savings
Summary
Kane County staff described a smart-irrigation pilot using networked irrigation controllers to reduce household water use; the pilot will use ARPA funds, collect six months of usage data from participants and promote results to residents and local chambers.
Kane County staff told the Energy and Environmental Committee on July 11 that the county is launching a pilot study of smart irrigation controllers intended to reduce outdoor water use and measure bill savings.
The presenter said the pilot uses internet-connected irrigation controllers that adjust schedules by soil, sun exposure and weather. "The thing that I like the most is they have rain delays," the presenter said, noting examples of rain-triggered watering suspensions that can keep systems off for multiple days after rain events.
Staff said the pilot will use ARPA funds allocated to the county’s water conservation program and will ask participants to provide six months of historic water usage data available from their utility accounts. The program aims to collect yard size and zone information, deploy the devices and track usage over a one-year period to document actual savings. The presenter cited vendor data that similar systems can reduce irrigation water use by about 47% in some installations.
Staff have begun outreach through municipal newsletters and sanitation districts and said early targets include households served by the Wasco sanitary district that show high outdoor-water usage; initial lists of high-use accounts showed monthly bills in the hundreds to thousands of dollars for top users. The pilot is residential at present, though staff said business or larger commercial opportunities could be explored later.
Why this matters: outdoor irrigation is a major component of residential water use; county-collected, local pilot data will provide an evidence base for incentives or broader programs and may shape future conservation and ARPA-funded investments.
Next steps: staff will recruit participants, deploy devices, track water usage and report aggregated results and potential incentive proposals to the committee.
