NOVATO, CA--(Marketwire - Mar 8, 2013) - ET Water Systems, Inc., the market leader in irrigation system retrofits and leading provider for smart irrigation management solutions, has been named a finalist for the 2013 Business Environmental Awards, which recognize and celebrate Bay Area corporate environmental leaders. The awards are presented by Acterra, a Bay Area environmental nonprofit organization with a broad range of programs and initiatives that teach people how to improve the environment.
A leader in smart irrigation management, ETwater combines wireless technology, cloud computing, and real-time weather data to save water, energy, and benefit the environment in many ways. "ETwater addresses the issues of water mismanagement and over-use, and the resulting environmental damage," commented ETwater CEO Pat McIntyre. "A little known fact is that 50% of US urban water is consumed by landscapes (EPA). Our system performs at a documented 20-50% water savings for our clients, which makes us feel great about helping to reduce that urban water use statistic and protect our local waterways."
Following are the many ways that saving water with ETwater also protects the environment:
Reduce runoff pollution and soil erosion. When landscapes are over-watered, the soil cannot absorb all of the water applied, resulting in runoff. The ETwater custom irrigation schedules incorporate information about the soil type, slope and root depth of each irrigation zone at every site, and creates custom soak cycles whenever there is a risk of surface water runoff or soil erosion from a long irrigation period. This leads to clearer & healthier streams, rivers and bays in the area by reducing contamination from fertilizers and pesticides.
Reducing water use also reduces energy use. Another little known fact is that 19% of California electricity is used to purify, transport and treat water (CA Energy Commission, 2005). By reducing the use of water in landscape settings, energy use can also be reduced on a large scale.
Reduce landfill. ETwater has recently introduced new-for-the-landscape-irrigation-sector capabilities to enable the firmware that powers ETwater controllers to be upgraded using remotely managed Over The Air Programming technology, thus "future-proofing" the hardware. By building in the ability to remotely upgrade the firmware in the ETwater hardware products, hardware obsolescence is reduced and keeps those controllers out of the landfill. Similarly, the ETwater retrofit program extends the life of millions of existing, installed conventional controllers by allowing customers to upgrade them with ETwater retrofit panels or ETwater HermitCrabs, instead of the resource-intensive replacement of the entire existing system, so less equipment ends up in landfills.
Reduce fuel consumption. The ETwater solution and its remote management capabilities reduces maintenance trips and truck rolls, reducing traffic impacts and fuel consumption with related pollution.
In 2010, ETwater moved 100% of its manufacturing from Asia to the US, partnering with a local manufacturer in San Jose, CA. In addition to bringing jobs back to America, and reducing transportation energy use and emissions, manufacturing locally has also increased quality control while decreasing concept-to-market time so that ETwater's latest water-conserving technology can be adopted as rapidly as possible.
The Business Environmental Awards judging panel will conduct visits to each of the finalists' facilities for further review of their programs. The 2013 awardees will be announced on March 18th and will be honored at the 2013 Business Environmental Awards Reception on Thursday, May 30, 2013 at Intuit Corporation in Mountain View, CA.
About ETwater
ETwater is redefining landscape irrigation with patented smart-irrigation solutions for large scale landscapes. The company's pioneering products integrate its award-winning web portal with real-time weather data and wirelessly connected smart controllers to create and implement optimal watering schedules, resulting in beautiful landscapes while producing water savings of 20-50%. The powerful, web-based ETwater Manager™ aggregates key data from multiple sites, enables hands-on management from any remote location, and delivers significant savings not only in water, but in time, money, and labor. ETwater is a private company based in Novato, CA, and manufactures in the U.S. For more information, please visit www.etwater.com.
About Acterra
Acterra is an environmental non-profit serving the Silicon Valley. We provide people with tangible, hands-on activities they can do to improve the environment. All of our work is solution-oriented. We offer several thousand volunteer opportunities each year for adults and youth. Because people get excited by different things, we offer a broad range of programs, from habitat restoration to carbon reduction and more. As importantly, we teach people how to become effective environmental change agents in their communities, neighborhoods, workplaces and schools. In addition to empowering thousands of people here in Silicon Valley, our programs serve as models that others can emulate elsewhere. For more information, please visit http://www.acterra.org.
Media ContactJennifer GolbusEmail Contact
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