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.