Arizona HOA Saves Water and Achieves System Payback in Less Than 2 Years with Smart Irrigation

CHALLENGE

Nestled in vibrant Peoria, Arizona, Artessa is a sophisticated community of apartment homes. Known for access to great walking and bike trails right off the property, Artessa features a diverse and elegant landscape that matches the caliber of a luxury apartment complex.

The dry and hot Arizona weather, however, made that quest a challenge. Water scarcity and blistering heat, not only stressed the landscape, but it also stressed Artessa’s water budget. The site’s plethora of shrubbery required varying amounts of water. That made keeping plants alive while attempting to limit water use a seemingly insurmountable task.

SOLUTION: WEATHERTRAK PILOT EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS WITH 40 TO 50% WATER SAVINGS

Artessa, owned by MetLife Real Estate Investors in partnership with Alliance Residential Company, began pilot testing WeatherTRAK smart irrigation controllers to see if a smart irrigation solution could assist with their water management efforts.

Cloud-based WeatherTRAK provides Artessa with the visibility to track water usage across each water meter and controller. The controllers receive the most accurate weather data, which is used with plant type, soil type and other variables programmed by Artessa to deliver the exact volume of water required to beautifully maintain the landscape.

With WeatherTRAK Central, the software component of WeatherTRAK, landscape maintenance workers can program a single site or a portfolio of sites, monitor performance, track asset inventories and water usage on any Internet-enabled device 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The pilot resulted in irrigation water savings between 40 and 50% and ROI within 2 years, which exceeded their expectations. As a result of the successful pilot, Alliance’s National Director of Sustainability, Kelly Vickers identified other communities in its portfolio for future WeatherTRAK installations.

A PROVEN SMART IRRIGATION CASE STUDY

Artessa chose WeatherTRAK because of its proven track record in performance and savings, and the its ability to proactively manage water, particularly in a dry desert climate.

Before the system was installed, HydroPoint, the makers of WeatherTRAK estimated payback within 2 and a half years. Artessa actually saved 1.4 million gallons of water in the first year and achieved system payback well ahead of schedule.

As described in this case study, WeatherTRAK smart irrigation exceeded Artessa’s water savings expectations, and it is also supporting MetLife’s goal of increasing sustainability awareness and action.