Davey Tree Flipbooks

T he grass is as green as ever at Peterson Air Force Base, where the arid weather conditions of high altitude and Colorado's water restrictions make it tough for any plant to survive—let alone thrive. Yet that's just what the base's landscape is doing thanks to a partnership with Davey and Embassy Lawn and Landscaping. Davey and Embassy recently installed a new irrigation system on the base that uses approximately half the water of the old system to grow stronger, healthier plants and turf. The new irrigation system, installed in 2010, uses an estimated 50 percent less water than before to maintain the same 96 acres of improved turfgrass and 57 acres of landscaped beds on the base. "Water in the western U.S. is also referred to as liquid gold," says Blane Pshigoda, division manager of government projects. "This was an important project because the Air Force wanted to be sure it did its part to conserve water." OUTDATED IRRIGATION. Peterson spans hundreds of acres in Colorado's El Paso County and is home to some large complexes, including Air Force Space Command, United States Space Command, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the Peterson Air and Space Museum. The base had used 113 different satellite stations to control how much water was delivered to tens of thousands of plants and trees. Before installing the new system, each satellite had to be programmed and turned on and off by hand to accommodate for new plantings or to save water during rainstorms. First Lt. Stacy Glaus, chief of public affairs at Peterson AFB, says conserving water is an important mission for the Air Force, which works closely with the Colorado Springs Utilities to ensure water usage at the base adheres to recommendations. "Peterson AFB's water management practices impact not only the base, but the local community as well," Glaus says. "The scarcity of water in our region is prevalent, and as good community partners we must do our part." Before the new system was installed, Davey and Embassy irrigation technicians spent a lot of hours turning off systems manually every time it rained to avoid wasting water. "That was really pretty prehistoric," Pshigoda says of the manual adjustments. "It just wasn't keeping up with technology when the Air Force is on the cutting edge of technology." Now, the irrigation crew can change the program at any of the base's 98 satellite systems from a central computer. HOW IT WORKS. The highly sophisticated software of the new irrigation system accepts detailed programmatic changes, but it also includes myriad automatic adjustments that fine-tune themselves to adapt to almost any weather forecast or event. Davey can even adjust the program parameters to shut off after the area gets a specific amount of precipitation. Each satellite system received a flow sensor and communication cable, so the weather data can be transmitted via direct-radio signal from the controllers to the central computer in Davey's local office. "Our irrigation crew can now use their time more efficiently," Pshigoda says. "I also like that we can now program the system to the param- eters that we as professionals know are best." BIG SYSTEM, BIG SAVINGS. Such a large-scale, complex system requires some expert installation. Pshigoda says Davey and Embassy started the install at the Air Force base, which covers nearly 600 acres, in 2010. Water wasn't flowing through the new heads until 2011. But it was worth the wait. The new system saved anywhere from 50 percent to 60 percent on water use annually. Davey and Embassy built the new hardware from scratch by adding sensors, installing com- munication cables and laying miles of piping into as much of the existing system as possible. As Pshigoda says, "We have a very knowledgeable staff of trained professionals, and that is what allows us to put the best program in place for your site." Davey saves clients time, money and water by installing centralized, automated irrigation systems. September/October 2014 | 9 Davey employees install an irrigation system at Peterson Air Force Base.

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