Davis, together with John Bauer of Wahaso and Mark Coopersmith of ETwater, has been chosen as a panelist for the 4th Water Smart Innovations Conference and Expo 2011. Water-efficiency professionals from across the United States and around the world will gather on October 5-7, 2011 at the South Point Hotel and Conference Center in Las Vegas. The purpose of this conference is to broaden the knowledge of innovations in urban water efficiency including products, policies, techniques and ideas and with this, one of the topics that is scheduled for the Friday session, October 7, 2011, 9:00 am (PST) of the education program is: “Harvesting On-Site Water Sources for Sustainable Irrigation”.

Later that month, Davis and Bauer along with Pat McIntyre of ETwater, have been chosen as panelists for the ASLA Annual Meeting and Expo 2011. This premier event for landscape architecture professionals happens on October 30 – November 2, 2011 at the San Diego Convention Center. Their topic again will be: “Harvesting On-Site Water Sources for Sustainable Irrigation”, in line with this year’s theme, “Landscape Architecture Rising: Knowledge Vision Leadership”. The annual meeting of ASLA this Fall, in San Diego, will be the largest gathering of the world’s landscape architecture professionals. More than 6,000 professionals are expected to attend, with an estimated 450 exhibitors participating. The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), which was founded in 1899, is backed up with their mission to lead, to educate, and to participate in the careful stewardship, together with wise planning and artful design, of cultural and natural environments.

Landtech Irrigation Consultants’ vision for efficient water use influences their entire approach to designing systems. They also encourage the incorporation of water-harvesting strategies and technologies, which reduces the need to use potable water for irrigation.

In addition to irrigation consulting with a focus on water-harvesting and high-efficiency applications, their rep-services business promotes installations of green roofs & green walls, and helps position a specialized team for consulting on ecological restoration projects. In all aspects of their work, emphasis is placed on using onsite resources in an efficient and responsible manner.

Visit www.LandtechDesign.com or send an email to: Jim.Davis@LandtechDesign.com

How?

One of the factors is the combination of soil used, and the kind of plant growing in that soil. Fine-textured soil, like clay or silt, for example, tends to keep water near the surface, while coarser soil lets water penetrate deeper. A plant with shallow roots might not fare well in a coarse soil because it can’t reach water. On the other hand, a plant with deep roots might not get much water from fine soil. You may water your plants regularly, but all that water is just going to waste if it can’t get to your plants’ roots.

Another factor is timing. Plants always need water, but there are critical growth stages, like when they are just germinating or are just beginning to emerge from the soil, when your plants really need their water. If your plants don’t get water when they need it most, you’ll just end up wasting water trying to nurse them back to health.

Timing is also important in keeping your soil moist and your plants well watered. Frequent light watering wets the top layer of soil, but doesn’t provide enough water to penetrate deep into the soil. This means that instead of reaching the roots, water evaporates straight into the air from the ground. Occasionally soaking the soil is usually a better idea than frequently sprinkling it.

On the opposite end, you have to watch out for that you don’t over-water your plants. If you don’t give the soil time to dry out, you deprive your plants’ roots of oxygen that they need. Like under-watering, this leads to wasted water, and quite a few browning, wilting, dying plants.

These are just a few things you need to know about watering or irrigating your plants, and we can’t share everything with you in this short article. If you want to learn more about water management and efficient irrigation, visit Landtech Irrigation at http://www.landtechdesign.com/ or stay tuned for more posts here.

Water Harvesting is the collection and storage of rainwater and stormwater runoff in order  to provide water for livestock, irrigation, drinking, recharging of groundwater, and other purposes. This collection of rainwater/stormwater also has the added benefit of reducing erosion and flooding that may result from heavy rains.

There are two general categories of water harvesting: rainwater harvesting and stormwater harvesting. Rainwater harvesting, as the name implies, involves catching rainwater where it falls – usually on rooftops and other small catchments. Stormwater harvesting captures from ground catchments, storm drains, and even streams, rivers, or other bodies of water – this makes stormwater harvesting suitable for collecting large amounts of water from wide areas.

Harvested water can be used for different purposes, including replenishment of groundwater, irrigation of plants and crops, cleaning purposes such as washing clothes and flushing toilets, and even drinking water. This means that the harvested water usually goes through filtering and treatment before being put back to re-use.

Initial pre-treatment usually involves a mesh or some other filter to block large objects in the water such as twigs, leaves, insects, and others. From here, the water goes through finer filters such as a sand and gravel filter to clean it further. At this point, the water is suitable for an aquifer or deep well, recharging the groundwater. This water can also be used for many household purposes, such as: for watering plants/crops, for use as supply of water for toilets, and outdoor wash-bays. With further sanitization and sterilization, the water can also be re-used for: personal bathing and for washing dishes.

Though this water may already be potable, it usually goes through further treatment to ensure that there are no impurities and contaminants in the water. Adding chlorine, exposing the water to UV light, and passing it through very fine filters are just some measures taken to sterilize harvested water.

This is just a brief look at water harvesting and the steps involved in maximizing the use of captured rain and stormwater. To learn more, visit Landtech Irrigation Consultants at http://www.LandtechDesign.com/ and stay tuned for more posts here.