With the onset of COVID a number of things went by the wayside in our lives. The Irrigation Association, Fairfax, Virginia, of course, was not immune to this and in addition to the cancellation of the Irrigation Show in December of 2020, several initiatives were also put on pause. Included in this was the IA’s Smart Water Application Technologies program. Along with bringing back the Irrigation Show in December of 2021, the IA Board of Directors approved a plan to restart SWAT.
SWAT began back in 2002 as industry volunteers saw a need to discuss new technologies coming onto the market and how the industry could increase consumer uptake through various market strategies. This coalition of irrigation professionals together working together with water providers helped to identify, test and promote innovative irrigation technologies and related best practices that improve water-use efficiency. The program has evolved from back in 2002. While it is no longer is the final say on various product protocols, it works closely with the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers to provide draft testing protocols that can ultimately become formal standards. In some cases, the Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program uses these standards to develop specifications so products can receive a WaterSense label. This process helps give consumers confidence in the products they are purchasing by ensuring the water efficiency claims made have been verified by third parties and helps water purveyors promote these products to their customers.
Since 2002, a number of products have moved through the testing process. Weather-based irrigation controllers were the first product to have a completed a testing protocol with WaterSense officially releasing their specification in 2011 for product labels. Since then, a number of products have moved through the testing protocol process and three products now have the ability to receive WaterSense labels, weather-based irrigation controllers, soil moisture-based irrigation controllers and spray sprinkler bodies.
In addition to the technical side of SWAT, irrigation professionals and water providers work to identify strategies that will ultimately help promote these products to end users and offers a variety of resources to help educate consumers about how these smart technologies can save water and money. A number of resources can be found on the SWAT website and in 2019, SWAT launched its award program to recognize water providers that are committed to water conservation by increasing engagement with irrigation stakeholders and the public at large. Good ideas that help put more efficient products on the ground shouldn’t be kept a secret and SWAT is committed to sharing these across the country.
When SWAT was paused in 2020, it was in the process of developing draft testing protocols for new product lines and updating its resources to ensure the latest technologies and best programs were featured. This pause has allowed the IA to go back and determine where SWAT should be headed. Now that SWAT has restarted, the irrigation industry and water provider community can expect new products to be tested and hear more about innovative programs being implemented to increase the installation water efficient technologies across the country. Although paused for the last two years, 2022 marks the 20th anniversary of the SWAT program and the future has never looked brighter.
Coleman Garrison is the Irrigation Association government and public affairs director and can be reached at colemangarrison@irrigation.org.
