It’s the middle of summer and irrigation season is in full swing. A corporate campus in the suburbs of Portland, OR with a central control irrigation system lost a telephone connection. This phone line is just one of dozens and dozens within this campus’ telecommunication network. So, what’s the big deal about this one?
Well, this particular phone line was used by the irrigation manager to connect via phone modem to the irrigation systems on-site control device, which managed all of the property’s irrigation schedules. We’re talking about an irrigation system that covered over 30 acres of landscape, a soccer field, a softball/baseball field, a putting green and almost 200 irrigation control valves, The entire system was offline because of this now compromised phone line. Losing communication with a site happens on occasion and could be due to a couple of different reasons.
Perhaps the power supply on site was interrupted which would shut down the phone modem and cut off contact. Or the phone number was cancelled by the client since the phone number is only used for irrigation management purposes and someone on staff with the client thinks the phone number is not used for anything. Regardless of why, the only way to discover the problem is to visit the site.
Now at this site, the CCU (the device with the phone modem) is located in an interior room at the campus. This room was the security room for several years, but that changed recently. Unbeknownst to the irrigation manager, this room was being remodeled. Which, of course, meant that the telephone line was unplugged. Problem identified.
However, simply plugging the phone line back into the wall was not the answer. A part of the remodel included deactivating the previously active phone jack for the CCU. In fact, all of the phone connections in this room (there at least a dozen) had all been taken offline completely. On top of that, the client decided that the CCU needed to be moved to a different location.
The bottom line in this situation was that there was no ready way to run the irrigation on campus…for several days. Keep in mind this was in the middle of the watering season, so this was a situation where at least a temporary solution was needed.
One option was for the landscape contractor to run the irrigation by programming each controller individually. Suffice it to say, but that is not an attractive option because that would take a whole day’s worth of work at least. It would also mean trying to coordinate how much water each irrigation controller ran at any one time since they all shared two water sources. Too much water running at one time results in low water pressure, lousy coverage from the sprinklers and bad-looking grass.
Because of the irrigation systems hardware, previously programmed software and long-term irrigation management, this water pressure issue was readily dealt with on a nightly basis. Of course, that was before the phone line was shut down.
What to do?
Well, the first option chosen was to move the CCU to the large utility room in which the main telephone switching units are located. This meant there would be ready access to an unused telephone jack that could be easily activated and be available for the CCU modem.
There was a problem. The wire path for the irrigation controllers were located outside and where exactly the wire path from inside the telephone room went to outside, if at all, was unknown. Finding this inside-to-outside wire path was crucial in order for the CCU to connect to the campus irrigation controllers.
Looking for this unknown wire path was not even attempted because the irrigation manager had a better option to try. It involved moving the CCU outside to a location where it could easily be connected to the irrigation wire path. There was a secure, weather proof enclosure already in place that would be perfect.
Now the sticking was contacting the CCU from the irrigation manager’s main office. There was no phone line available from this outside enclosure, meaning the CCU modem was useless. Now maybe the irrigation manager could have persuaded the client to install a phone line at this outside location, but that would cost several hundred dollars.
Instead the irrigation manager chose a wireless modem. By installing such a device to connect to the CCU, there is no cost of installing a phone line. In addition, the modem was already in stock with the irrigation manager for just such a situation and so there was just a day’s delay when the water was not running on campus.
So while this room remodel had an unexpected and serious effect on the irrigation system, it was solvable. It took some creative thinking, quick action and the right technology by the irrigation manager in order for this situation to not become a headache and additional expense for the landscape contractor or for the client.
Irrigation Management Systems (IMS) has saved water and money for its clients since the late 1980s, long before green was fashionable. Using the right combination of technology and management practices, IMS has long worked on keeping that delicate balance of saving water while keeping shrubs, turf and flowers sufficiently watered. Get to know us a little better at http://www.irrigationmanagementsystems.com/ and you can also get some free tips to saving water.
