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Volumetric budget based irrigation control

  • US 10,582,674 B2
  • Filed: 12/12/2018
  • Issued: 03/10/2020
  • Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2009
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method of controlling irrigation, the method comprising:

  • receiving, at a water authority system and corresponding to each of multiple different remote and geographically distributed site locations each having in irrigation system comprising an irrigation controller configured to control one or more valves distributed throughout the respective site location and to implement a respective irrigation schedule stored in local memory of the irrigation controller to control irrigation at the respective site location, water usage information corresponding to a first volumetric water usage at the respective site location, wherein the first volumetric water usage corresponds to volumetric water usage at the respective site location from a beginning of a budget period of time to a first time within the budget period of time;

    determining automatically, by the water authority system, whether a volumetric water budget at the respective site location is predicted to be met for the budget period of time based on at least the first volumetric water usage, the volumetric water budget corresponding to a specified volume of water for use at the respective site location during the budget period of time;

    determining automatically, by the water authority system in the event the volumetric water budget will not be met, an adjustment to the irrigation to be implemented by the respective irrigation controller, wherein the adjustment comprises a reduction of runtimes of remaining irrigation events scheduled to occur during the budget period of time such that the adjustment substantially spreads a compensation for an amount of water usage that will exceed the volumetric water budget over the remaining irrigation events; and

    communicating, from the water authority system, instructions to modify the irrigation schedule wherein the instructions provide changes to be made by the respective irrigation controller to implement modification to the irrigation schedule to control the opening and closing of the one or more valves at the respective site location coupled with the irrigation controller in controlling water released through water delivery devices fluidly coupled with a corresponding one of the one or more valves in controlling irrigation at the irrigation site to effect the adjustment.

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