Rain Bird Corporation and Flume Partner on Next Gen Water Management and Data
(TUCSON, AZ—April 22) – In recognition of the 53rd annual Earth Day, Rain Bird Corporation and Flume today announce a partnership that delivers a new generation of whole home-water management solutions intended to give homeowners and water agencies better tools to achieve substantial water savings.
By combining Flume’s easy-to-install smart home water monitoring with Rain Bird’s market-leading irrigation controllers, property owners and water agencies will be able to track water usage down to the drop from irrigation to indoor appliances. The collaboration will also enable homeowners and water agencies to establish firm water usage goals to help homeowners better manage their water use.
Flume’s smart home water monitor reports water use by appliance and fixture, allowing people to measure use in real time. Rain Bird’s Smart controllers automatically adjust watering schedules based on weather conditions to reduce overwatering. The new partnership will link Rain Bird’s controllers with Flume’s water monitor, allowing homeowners to quantify the savings generated by using Rain Bird’s Smart controller features. In a pilot study conducted last summer, 70 homes across the nation were equipped with both a Flume smart home water monitor and a Rain Bird Smart controller. Many of these homes reduced their outdoor water consumption by an impressive 25 percent or more, with many homes showing a 40 percent reduction in irrigation water use. In addition to quantifying and encouraging water savings, the Flume monitor will be able to detect irrigation system leaks to avoid water waste and subsequent property damage. The combined system will also measure water usage by irrigation zone to enable the user to adjust irrigation needs more accurately. These features will be available to the homeowner via each company’s mobile app.
“Up to this point, there were limited ways to measure irrigation water usage and the water savings created by the use of Smart controllers,” says Eric Adler, Flume co-founder. “But through our partnership with Rain Bird, we can measure actual irrigation water usage, not estimates, which gives a much more accurate picture of both real and potential water savings. It also offers the user peace of mind, as the two devices working together can detect irrigation leaks and even in what part of the irrigation system.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 14 percent of all water supply is lost after the water meter. That means homeowners may have unknown leaks, either inside or outside the home, for which they are being billed. Rain Bird’s Smart controllers partnered with Flume’s whole-property water monitoring will help homeowners drastically reduce this water loss.
“Both Rain Bird and Flume are keenly aware of and focused on the need to conserve water,” says Jed Price, director of Rain Bird’s Contractor Business Unit. “As a 90-year-old company founded on The Intelligent Use of WaterTM, Rain Bird has taken and will continue to take proactive steps to optimize irrigation in order to allow homeowners, companies and communities to enjoy outdoor landscapes while minimizing water consumption. This partnership will set the stage for homeowners to take full control of their entire water consumption, while nurturing an optimized landscape, and protecting one of their community’s most precious resources.”
The paired products will be available through both companies’ traditional sales channels, including online, and will also be available to utilities and water retailers for specific programs. Rain Bird will also offer the products for sale to homeowners through professional irrigation contractors, making installation even easier for homeowners.
About Rain Bird Corporation
Rain Bird Corporation is a leading global manufacturer and provider of irrigation products and services headquartered in Azusa, California. The privately held company was founded in 1933 during California’s agricultural boom. Since the beginning, Rain Bird has produced and offered the industry’s broadest range of irrigation products for farms, golf courses, sports arenas, commercial developments and homes in more than 130 countries around the world. Over the past nine decades, Rain Bird has been awarded more than 450 patents worldwide, and today offers more than 4,000 water-saving irrigation products and services with offices and manufacturing facilities in Arizona, Alabama, Mexico, France, and elsewhere around the world.