Irrigation Group develops water-smart program with Peel and York
Irrigation professional members of Landscape Ontario understand the importance of promoting smart irrigation.
The Association’s Irrigation Sector Group promoted Smart Irrigation Month and has also joined in a Water Smart Irrigation Professional (WSIP) program with the Regions of Peel and York.
The program offers irrigation companies specialized training and certification. The Municipalities of Peel and York Regions subsidize the cost for select contractors to perform comprehensive irrigation system assessments, exclusively for the Regions’ existing customers.
The program was created to benefit local businesses by providing the irrigation industry with enhanced training and knowledge, while supporting environmental protection and sustainable water use.
Jeremy Harris, technical analyst with Peel Region, says the program provides contractors with a financial incentive to encourage their clients to upgrade existing irrigation systems. “The municipality is excited about the results we should see on water savings,” says Harris.
Bill MacDonald of Angus Irrigation in Hamilton says WSIP is an absolute worthwhile program that puts us into the forefront.
He remembers when it was very difficult to demonstrate to large clients where the return on investment was for them to spend money install a conservative irrigation system. “The WSIP program has simplified the process and made it easy for clients to immediately recognize dollar savings,” says MacDonald. “LO did this the right way.”
Harris went to say that to his knowledge no other municipality is involved with such a program. “I foresee that WSIP will be taken right across the province,” he said. He expects in the next couple of years to have some good data to show how much WISP will save in both water consumption and costs. “We will be presenting the program at the next Ontario Water Works Association conference.” That conference takes place in April 2015 in Toronto.
WSIP helps identify potential water and money saving opportunities by detecting damaged or leaking system hardware, helps maximize the life of systems by identifying needed maintenance and upgrades, and calculating the associated return on investment, and ensures the health and beauty of the landscape while saving money by confirming the effectiveness of a watering schedule.
The WSIP training program includes both in-class and field components. Following certification, irrigation contractors will be required to conduct at least five irrigation audits at Industrial, Commercial or Institutional (ICI) client facilities, using the new methods learned in the program.
This course will build upon concepts taught in the Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditor (CLIA) Program. New Water Smart Irrigation Professional (WSIP) Certification Course in-class and in-field components will run in February or March of 2015 in preparation for the 2015 irrigation season. The WSIP Certification Course will be held at Landscape Ontario’s head office in Milton.
Depending on interest expressed in the program and the number of applications received, an interview may also be required as part of the application process. Contractors selected to participate in the program will be notified by December 31, 2014. A maximum of 14 irrigation firms will be selected from the applications received to take part in the program.
For more information on the WSIP program go to horttrades.com/wsip-faq, or contact Sally Harvey, Manager of Education and Labour Development, at sharvey@landscapeontario.com.
