As stockbrokers on Wall Street might say, "Irrigation is a sleeper, just waiting for the right conditions to go though the roof!" It’s on the watch list instead of the buy list. That is, unless you are The Toro Company, which bought James Hardie Irrigation this year.
During 1997, the field was laid out for the next century. Manufacturers improved productivity and shaved costs. Contractors took advantage of price wars among manufacturers over market share. Small distributors felt the pressure of consolidation and economies of scale gained by the industry’s big houses. Irrigation consultants started breaking out of their comfortable territories and expanding into new regions. Mass merchandisers started to see the do-it-yourselfer and part-time contractor boom in irrigation mature as a stronger U.S. economy sent more part-timers back to full-time jobs.
There is logic behind all this positioning. The logic is that one day in the near future, growth around the world will be limited by the amount of water available. Choices will have to be made, whether by capitalism or by government, to distribute water most productively. Those who are part of the distribution network will have the upper hand over the recreational, landscape, and industrial use of water. The technically gifted will regain their status alongside the marketing wizards who rule today. When technology and marketing get on the same page and growth results in water awareness, the stock of the irrigation industry should outpace most other industries.
PREPARING FOR CONSERVATION. As anyone who has been in the business for more than 10 years will tell you, irrigation is not a get rich quick business. The average irrigation contractor is a specialist whose business generates less than $500,000 per year, according to a soon-to-be-released survey by the Irrigation Association. It is highly dependent upon new landscape construction. Big jobs involve landscape architects, more of whom wisely subcontract irrigation design for their projects to irrigation consultants. Even large design/build contractors lean toward consultants over in-house design staff. Realizing this, contractors will be less inclined to make changes from brands listed in specifications.
Irrigation contractors stake their reputation on being able to reproduce the designer’s concept quickly and with the fewest complications. That is only possible with a complete understanding of application rates and uniformity, soil moisture and drainage characteristics on the site, and growing challenges. The irrigation contractor must also be able to hit the time window of the landscape contractor. Skilled crews are essential for long-term success in the business. Brains must be matched with a willingness to get in the trenches when necessary.
While computers make basic irrigation designs more flexible and repeatable, they have yet to replace the individual trained to solve the challenges presented by nature on large landscape or golf course installations. Unlike general contractors, landscape architects and contractors rarely match plans inch by inch. Plants, like the human mind, are fluid and ever changing. The creative process requires a large palette of colors and techniques that don’t materialize until the site is being shaped and planted. The irrigation contractor has to anticipate and build this flexibility into the bid.
An increasingly popular solution to last minute, on-site changes is carefully mixing sprinkler irrigation with low volume irrigation. Edges to turf areas and entire plant beds can remain flexible up to the last minute with low volume. This justifies the use of controllers, pressure regulators and fittings that enable the contractor to use the technology when it is needed, now or in the future. That includes subsurface, surface, and wick low-flow irrigation. This is not replacing sprinkler with drip, it is the two working together for the greatest result.
The job doesn’t end after the system is installed and handed over to the customer. Huge variations in plant water demand occur over a normal growing season. Few customers appreciate this, have any idea what evapotranspiration is, or realize how much water can be saved by scheduling and budgeting. Few grasp the importance of application uniformity in the ability to save water.
Maintaining a relationship with the owners of irrigated landscapes is smart. Trees grow and cast shade on groundcovers. Drainage problems might arise that need correction. The irrigation contractor can and should work to replace wasteful plants with more efficient ones. Provide tips about water-smart plants to landscape contractors you subcontract for. Don’t rule out systems for containers and hanging baskets. Provide tips to your customers on the different water needs of seasonal color. Be a vital part of the landscape management process.
| IA Report |
"Times are good again for irrigation," noted Louis Toth, president, Irrigation Association, Fairfax, Va. Toth noted that in addition to a lack of trained labor, right-to-work challenges and intense competition among distributors are key issues for irrigation contractors to be aware of. quot;Officials from the plumbers’ unions are pressing certain issues regarding the qualifications for doing a job right now," he said, pointing specifically to a court case in front of the Illinois Supreme Court. Regarding distributors, Toth said the combination of more experienced contractors and increased competition has created a difficult climate. "Contractors are smarter buyers today, and distributors seem to be struggling to have the product contractors need when they need it," he said. "The industry is changing so fast in terms of the equipment used on jobs and the materials products are made of that there’s a lot of ways to do irrigation. That’s led to the existence of a lot of distributors – maybe too many." |
LABOR AND CERTIFICATION. If local, state or federal government clamped down on water for landscape irrigation tomorrow, we would be pitifully short of people qualified to increase irrigation efficiency. The reason is irrigation is based upon relatively complicated science. Irrigation contractors are not pipe fitters. Plumbers don’t have to understand things like hydraulics or back-siphonage because building codes are so narrow that plumbers almost can’t make mistakes if they follow blueprints and details.
Ironically, regulations in Illinois could actually restrict what irrigation contractors can do. If the Illinois Supreme Court rules in favor of licensed plumbers doing plumbing work on both sides of the backflow prevention devices this fall, a serious precedent will be set for other states to follow. An irrigation contractor would have to be a licensed plumber. It takes five years to go through the plumber’s licensing process in Illinois. Even then, only two questions on the licensing exam have anything to do with irrigation.
The best defense against such politics is certification from a technical association, such as the Irrigation Association, which protects the industry’s reputation through standards and educational programs.
The IA offer four certification programs which graduate irrigation contractors, auditors, designers, and managers each year. But the number of newly certified individuals falls far short of the number needed by the industry. More disturbing is the number of colleges and universities that teach landscape irrigation. Two things motivate universities to offer specialized degrees: the number of students who will pay to earn the degree and the grant money generated from the industry. The irrigation industry so far has fallen short on both counts.
Perhaps we should step back and take a fresh look at the landscape irrigation industry today. Are we content to let a few people make the vast majority of the decisions? Should we be training an intermediate group of people who want to work outdoors and do something positive for the environment? Not everyone easily comprehends the fine points of pressure, friction, flow, and elevation. Let’s not overlook soil science, plant science and geography. Can a few adequately translate these principles to those operating trenchers, gluing pipe and setting heads? Maybe now, but what about in the coming century?
| Soaked Cities | ||||||||||||||||
It's generally accepted that the amount of homeowners who are turning to professionally-installed irrigation system to manage their property is increasing. Data released by Irri-Com, a communications company focusing on the professional irrigation industry, shows how popular irrigation systems have become.
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FUTURE CONCEPTS. All of us must justify our salaries each month. Undoubtedly, we can save water and energy while preserving the landscape arounds us, the landscape that provides a quality of life envied by those around the globe.
One of the most rewarding things about being part of the irrigation industry is appreciating the people who preceded you. Men like Ed Hunter, who perfected the design of gear-drive turf sprinkler heads; Bob Cloud, who created the job description of irrigation consultant; George Moody, who pioneered remote-controlled irrigation valves; David Ransberg, who took the Nelson family’s ingenuity and built the retail hose-end market; Tony Pejsas, who expanded his father’s and uncle’s brass pop-up sprinklers; Tom Prosser, who pioneered soil moisture sensing; Dr. Jim Watson, who helped identify different water requirements of turfgrasses; and Tony LaFetra, who polished his father’s gift for marketing at Rain Bird. Let’s not overlook inventor/contractors, including John Brooks of Detroit; Dan and Bernard Wright of Chicago; W.A. Buckner of Fresno; and Burton Sperber of Los Angeles. The list goes on and on.
These people started the industry. During the next century, a new crop of inventors and contractors will refine the inventions of their predecessors. Irrigation will become weather-adjusted, sensor-based, and highly uniform. Controllers will report problems, automatically adjust schedules according to weather, and handle all types of irrigation devices. Irrigation systems will deliver nutrients, growth regulators, herbicides and pesticides as needed.
The effectiveness of this technology will depend upon certified technicians to install and maintain it. Whether the time is three years from now or 10, conservation can only be achieved if we have the experts trained to carry it forward. Irrigation contractors may not become wealthy, but they will have contributed something to mankind and this earth that everyone will eventually appreciate – quality of life in the face of limited resources.
The author is president of IRRI-com, Palmdale, Calif.
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