Smart sprinklers only water your lawn when it's thirsty
Putting your sprinklers on a timer system is probably the best way to avoid under-watering your plants -- but the "set and forget" mentality isn't the most economical. What if it rains during the week and you forget to turn the timer off? Now you're wasting water and drowning your lawn. A company called ETwater thinks it has a better automatic solution: a smart sprinkler that only waters your lawn when it actually needs it.
ETwater's sprinkler solution uses a combination of local sensors and real-time weather data to suss out how much water your plants need. If it's been raining, for instance, the system will deliver less water to your plants during the week. It also keeps track of your landscape, adjusting water distribution for soil and plant types as well as the slope of the land, compensating for water runoff. ETwater says its system can reduce your water consumption by as much as 50 percent -- a potentially huge savings for areas going through drought (like the company's home state of California).
The company seems mainly focused on addressing larger scale properties, like parks and or resorts, but the system is also available to consumers, starting at $35 a month for the irrigation control unit and the 3G/4G wireless service it uses.
[Image credit: MariuszBlach via Getty Images]
