According to the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA around 30% of residential water usage is invested for outdoor usage. More than half of that percentage is put towards hydrating lawns and gardens, the act of which is summed up as irrigation. Now, there is a huge chance you’re doing it wrong, which means you’re wasting a precious resource, your money and in the end it’s definitely not doing your plant life any good. So let’s save the fish, keep those bills in your wallet and satisfy your plant life with a professionally installed sprinkler system installed by a certified irrigation contractor.
What is a certified irrigation contractor (CIC) you ask? Well it is a contractor that has a confirmed understanding of installation, repair and maintenance for proper irrigation and when it comes to mechanical, hydraulic and electrical irrigation controls you can be certain that they’ll come prepared. The irrigation association certifies and annually maintains the eligibility of the select few certified irrigation contractors with ongoing education and training requirements. More importantly certified contractors will come with an understanding of the ever changing and evolving industry and the environment. The ongoing technology advancements and the different product improvements that are available from the contractor grade manufacturers is also studied and understood.
Sure, you could do it all yourself, how hard can it be? One can simply setup an oscillating sprinkler head and call it quits; just hope you don’t forget about it being out there or forget a portion of the lawn or garden. Also what is enough water for this or that plant? Or say when the best time to water is? Simple questions that have huge ramifications in regards to the bill that is to be paid with how long and how often you water compared to the benefits of having a healthy lawn and garden. Your effort and time is well spent elsewhere. On top of money simply being wasted, the ongoing consequences with poorly managed irrigation are serious. We all know water is precious to our very survival as a species, already in places around the globe; poorly managed irrigation is contributing to wasted water supplies and land devastation. You may be thinking that surely just one poorly managed lawn isn’t a big deal, sure it isn’t, but a neighbourhood of poorly managed irrigation is pretty bad, and the slippery slope goes on from there.
So having a certified contractor can save you plenty of headaches in the long run. There are a lot of irrigation companies, some that do it alongside landscaping construction and lawn maintenance, but there are some whose main and only source of work is irrigation. It will be prudent of you to investigate each quote you receive by asking about the certificate with each prospective contractor: can the irrigation contractor produce the proper certification from the Irrigation Association or IA, the IA does (service all of North America); how many employees have the certification, and when was the certification earned. A majority of dedicated irrigation contractors will understand that having the certification for their business is an investment well worth the cost and time, as it puts them well ahead of competitors especially in regards to commercial bidding.
Now another point for finding a certified contractor is irrigation work does not require much in start-up capital just like other landscaping work. It’s quite easy for an individual to sell themselves and their company as the cheaper alternative; so you must be able to tell the difference between fly-by night contractors to one whom is committed to having a satisfied list of past clientele. You weren’t planning on having that Koi pond in backyard just yet, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves and have our irrigation done by those who will do it right. Put down that hose and do your part in properly managing your irrigation, you will thank yourself later.