Bay Area Hotel Saves More Than 200,000 Gal of Water

Novato, Calif.-based ETwater partnered with Inn Marin, also located in Novato, to help the hotel save over 200,000 gal of water on outdoor landscape use over a two-month period. This conservation effort demonstrates the potential power of local businesses to help prevent future drought conditions by adopting smart irrigation technology.

Inn Marin is a charming, family-run hotel in Novato, Calif. Having incorporated corporate social responsibility into its business since the day it opened its doors, the hotel underwent a green renovation in 2008, and was recertified in 2012 by California's Green Lodging Program at the Environmentalist Level. In 2013, Inn Marin contacted ETwater about expanding its water conservation program to include water usage in outdoor landscapes.

The leader in applying cloud-based computing to smart irrigation management, ETwater adjusts a site's customized irrigation schedule each day by combining wireless technology, cloud computing, horticultural algorithms, and real-time weather data. By applying the precise amount of water to a landscape only when needed, Etwater saves a documented 20-50% in landscape water use compared to traditional systems.

In the summer of 2013, four ETwater smart irrigation HermitCrabs were installed at Inn Marin, which provided a fast, easy upgrade to weather-adjusted ETwater smart irrigation without the expense of re-wiring the entire site for new controllers. The dramatic results in only two months after installation revealed a water savings of 209,727 gal between Sept. 16, 2013 and Nov. 18, 2013.

According to ETwater CEO Pat McIntyre, "Helping businesses be good stewards for the environment is one of our key touchstones at ETwater. If other local California businesses had adopted smart irrigation technology earlier, the state of California quite possibly could have mitigated the effects of our current drought. Although we were extremely lucky with recent rainstorms filling our reservoirs to 78%, we are still not out of the woods. According to the Marin Municipal Water District website, last year at this time our reservoirs were at 91%. Our annual total rainfall to date is 27.79 in. compared to the average rainfall for this date of 45.7 in. It's time for local businesses to step up and take responsibility by using this readily available technology to conserve water for now and for future generations."

Source: ETwater