FROM HUNTER INDUSTRIES, STEVE PALLAS
March 29, 2022
Safe Water Commission’s “Residential Smart Irrigation Program for Cities” was something that Hunter
Industries was involved with from the beginning prior to its pilot program in 2020. Based on my
decades of experience in the irrigation industry, I helped them determine the best way to program
the Hyrdrawise controllers and the appropriate items to notate during the Yard Evaluation or
“Simple Field Audit”.
Hunter Industries also helped Safe Water Commission interface with our Hunter IT specialist to
connect the field data obtained from the Hyrdawise system for each controller in their program to
Safe Water’s IT database.
By installing a smart controller with properly set programs and runtimes, educating the residents
on a one-by-one basis on how to operate their controller, and recommendations for improvements by
their contractor, and the robust quantitative approach to calculating actual water savings, this
program is unique in my 13-state region, located in the upper Midwest, and probably in the United
States.
Sincerely,
Steve Pallas, CLIA Midwest Sales Manager Hunter Industries
HUNTER INDUSTRIES, INC.
1940 Diamond Street | San Marcos, California 92078 | U.S.A
+1 760-744-5240 Main | +1 760-744-7461 Fax | www.hunterindustries.com
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FROM JON EATON, CITY OF EAGAN UTILITY SUPERVISOR
March 25, 2022
Re: Vanguard Award, Irrigation Association
The City of Eagan partnered with Safe Water Commission and Hunter Industries in 2021 to promote an
innovative Smart Irrigation Program (SIP) to reduce irrigation water consumption.
The City communicated the program to residents and businesses on the city website (with links to
the on-line application), in other communications (like the City newsletter and social media), and
supported the program with customer rebates.
Safe Water Commission performed the simple irrigation system audits and yard evaluations,
controller replacements, advanced controller programming, and suggested additional ways to save
water (like rain sensors, head repairs and/or replacements, etc.).
The program benefits to the resident or business were:
• Work performed by a professional, licensed contractor
• Personalized evaluation and education of their irrigation system
• A report of the findings, recommended improvements, and detailed water and cost savings
• Ongoing customer support by Hunter and Safe Water Commission
The program benefits to the City were:
• Data was gathered to help the city quantify and demonstrate a cost savings
• A professional, positive service was provided to the property owner/operator
• Significant water was saved; the average annual water saved was estimated to be 35% or
approximately 70,000 gallons.
The City of Eagan continues to encourage the Smart Irrigation Program because of its logical water
conservation approach, training of recipients, detailed reporting, but most importantly because of
the significant water and cost savings to both the customer and the City.
Sincerely, Jon Eaton
Utility Superintendent