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Irrigation Companies - Florida Irrigation Society

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MOISTURE SENSORS continued<br />

result in very effective irrigation control. We’ve tested nearly every popular<br />

expanding disk RS device and while they may be effective at saving<br />

water sometimes, they are much less so than SMSs. <strong>Irrigation</strong> reduction<br />

with SMSs exceeds RSs by a factor of 2 or 3 without any reduction in<br />

turf or landscape quality. In addition, in long term (> 3 years in the field)<br />

testing of RS devices, we found that the expanding disk material became<br />

less responsive after the first year and erratic responses increased. In<br />

all cases, expanding disk devices dry out 80% of the time within 24 hrs,<br />

which allows irrigation too soon after rainfall.<br />

You can find publications on this testing at my publications website,<br />

http://abe.ufl.edu/mdukes/publications/index.shtml.<br />

24 / PiPELINE

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