ET Water celebrates smart irrigation month with the launch of the GNOME Smart Irrigation Calculator

6 Jul 2011 Novato - ET Water Systems, an expert in smart irrigation control and water management solutions, has launched GNOME. GNOME is a free Web-based water calculator that provides customized irrigation schedules to home owners based on their local weather conditions and landscape profile. GNOME recommends just the right amount of water to use, frequently reducing water consumption by over-irrigators by 20 to 50 percent or more versus conventional clock-based "set it and leave it" irrigation schedules. The result is reduced water bills, better overall plant health and less runoff, which frequently is damaging to homes and the environment.

"GNOME is our first consumer offering for smart irrigation", stated Mark Puckett, Product Manager at ET Water Systems. "Home owners understand the hassle of setting reliable watering schedules - too short and the lawn burns, too long and you're overwatering - which means money literally down the drain. By giving home owners optimal irrigation schedules, Gnome saves home owners money on water bills. And with more efficient, weather-based irrigation schedules, landscapes will stay healthy all year long."

GNOME creates monthly watering schedules based on local weather data from WeatherBug and adjusts for landscape characteristics such as:

• Plant type: lawn, flowers and bedding plants, ornamental grass, high water use plants, low water use plants, and trees,
• Soil composition: sandy, loam, clay, sandy loam, clay loam,
• Slope: flat, gentle, medium, steep, very steep,
• Sun exposure: sunny all day, partly sunny, shady all day,
• Irrigation method: spray head, rotor sprinklers, rotating nozzle, drip emitter, bubbler, and micro spray.

Once set up, GNOME combines the characteristics and creates a customized monthly watering schedule that tells you how long and how often to water. GNOME also monitors weather conditions and e-mails the home owner when major changes in the weather - from rain to heat waves - are predicted, reminding users to adjust their watering to meet changing conditions and landscape needs. GNOME can create schedules for most leading brands of residential controllers.