Shop Talk: Advanced Sensor Technology saving water on athletic fields and more

In 2005, Bucks County native Walt Norley was living in sunny north Palm Beach, Florida, running a successful company and making morning trips to the gym.

He’d often spot what he says is a typical suburban sight on the way: sprinklers spritzing water onto wet grass as rain poured from the sky; unintended waste caused by the use of timed irrigation systems. It struck him an antiquated practice.

Norley employed Soil Air Technologies, which developed a sub-surface aeration system used to vacuum water levels of golf courses and sports fields, and he floated the idea of measuring soil moisture to control pumps for irrigation instead of relying on timers.

His crew put together a sensor technology that measures everything that should be in soil salinity, moisture levels and temperature to grow a healthy and beautiful landscape. In the process, the sensors save, on average, 10 percent of an organization’s water use.

Today, the patented technology is known as UgMO, a proprietary wireless intelligence system that broadcasts soil information to irrigation systems, or, for the hardcore lawn geeks (and some extra green), a web-based administration system. And by geeks, we mean highly paid landscape professionals with $2 million grooming budgets.

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