Water is the New Currency: A Call to Action

For so many years we’ve thought water was like magic. Turn on any tap and out it gushes, clean and plentiful. Now, with drought plaguing much of the U.S., the reality is hitting closer to home. We can no longer pretend water is limitless and free.

Not only are water rates rising faster than any other utility, the search for new water sources to supply our ever-growing population is this generation’s version of the space race. Desalinization plants converting ocean water, extracting water from the atmosphere, recycling wastewater into drinking water. In this century water isn’t a right, it’s a competition. And the winner gets the rest of the dry, thirsty world begging on their doorstep.

Why Currency?

Unlike other resources that we can learn to do with less of or do without, water will never devalue. It is essential to life and our demand will always continue to grow. Monetary or other currency (gold, oil, etc.) is something that fluctuates radically in value and can be exchanged for something else of value. This is why I say water is the new currency. Nothing can beat its long term importance.

For Example...

A region’s water assets and management practices can either make or break it. In a water-rich region, the value of water can be leveraged to recruit new businesses, which will grow the local economy, increase the tax base, and improve the local quality of life. In contrast, regions that are approaching water bankruptcy and depleting surface and groundwater supplies will have a tough time convincing businesses and individuals to move into their region for fear of shortages, punitive water restrictions, and high costs of operations. This is the situation in China as seen with the unstable power grid shutting down cities along with the hoped-for economic growth.

Once we understand the true value of water and begin to budget, allocate, and manage it, the benefits of abundant water supplies will create as much or more prosperity than oil or gold. Water management technology is the path toward decreasing our demand, the first and smartest choice to consume less.

I realize that may sound strange, coming from the CEO of an irrigation company. Water is my business! But I chose this industry because I want to make a difference in water and contribute to the solution. With 50-70% of water consumption going to landscape irrigation, it may seem like stopping all irrigation would end the water crisis. But it won’t. Landscapes cool our environment, produce oxygen, clean the air, and filter water all while vastly improving our quality of life. So stopping irrigation is not the answer. Stopping poorly managed irrigation is!

How Can We Budget Water?

The right solution is to manage irrigation water with proper techniques and modern affordable technology. Upgrading all outdated timer-based irrigation controllers (timers) to smart irrigation controllers with on-site weather stations is a simple and inexpensive way to eliminate irrigation water waste and reduce water usage by up to 70%. Weathermatic’s SmartLine controller provides custom programming to apply only the water needed based on the soil, plant, and sprinkler type, and adjusts daily for the on-site weather conditions. Our cloud-based SmartLink network also provides the water management tools to ensure the system is always programmed to the local restrictions and provides alerts for system maintenance. This affordable solution can deliver more water savings faster than any other solution known to the industry. Plus it can be implemented very quickly without any negative impact on the environment.

These projected results are based on actual, real-world customers and monitored projects. We are consistently seeing an average of 50% reduction in water consumption, using Weathermatic’s EPA WaterSense-labeled SmartLink package. The latest study involving 15 customers shows a cumulative saving of one billion gallons of water since upgrading to our smart irrigation technology. One billion gallons that stay in the water bank. If 15 customers can save that much by upgrading, imagine what 1,500 or 15,000 customers could do! It is projected the US has over 10 million commercial irrigation controllers operating on a timer needing to be upgraded. Residential timers could be three to four times that number just waiting to be upgraded to smart technology.

The Call to Action

If local municipalities and State and Federal governments will take the lead and immediately adopt this simple smart irrigation practice, the rest of the country will see remarkable results and follow their lead. If commercial property owners and sustainability managers will aggressively expand their utility management practices to make water the first priority in energy or facilities management the smaller businesses and homeowners will begin to see water as the most valuable resource and change their habits. I wholly believe this one very small action taken on a large scale can reverse the water crisis in our country.

Will you join us in conserving enough water to flip the supply and demand? Please get in touch with me to find out how much water and money we can help your company save.

This was written by Weathermatic CEO Mike Mason, who, after a mission trip to El Salvador was faced with the reality of the global water crisis and came home ready to make a change in the highly inefficient irrigation industry. Mason committed to providing tech-based solutions to increase efficiency in irrigation, as well as forming Weathermatic’s Save Water | Give Life program.