CITY OF PLAYFORD IS IN CONTROL
02 Dec 2015
The City of Playford in South Australia effectively manages the challenges of water usage and irrigation needs utilising Toro’s Sentinel Central Control system.
The City of Playford in Adelaide’s Northern Suburbs is increasingly capturing and reusing stormwater runoff to reduce its reliance on mains water.
In order to manage the Council’s irrigation system more efficiently, the City Operations Team went on the hunt for a new central control system that was able to manage the distribution of all available water sources to 24 council sites and 11 schools.
The goal was to find a central control system that offered a high level of control and that was able to manage available water flow under peak load scenarios.
The Toro Sentinel Central Control System is the only central control system that can effectively optimise flow across multiple sites from different water sources.
According to the City of Playford, time saving and ease of use are among the many benefits of using Sentinel. Before Sentinel was installed, all ovals and reserves would be physically checked weekly for issues. Now all it takes is one look at a laptop or iPad and the Council’s irrigation technicians can identify an issue, such as a damaged sprinkler that won’t shut off or a burst pipe, anywhere in real time.
With Sentinel, technicians can isolate single sites, so irrigation can continue across the other sites whilst localised maintenance is undertaken. Sentinel’s versatility means it’s easily retrofitted to existing systems and sites, using a combination of wall mounted units, in-field decoders and solar power, allowing controllers to operate AC solenoids in the field. All of the control sites communicate via the G3 network.
Sentinel is backed by Toro NSN support, a dedicated and accessible resource for central control system troubleshooting, problem solving, system operational assistance, and extended warranty.
The summer of 2014/2015 has been the first full season of using the Sentinel system. Playford Council is now more capable than ever before, and is in the process of building a history of monthly readings and graphing that will help to accurately track water savings.
The Council can now also more effectively manage an increase in the number of reserves and parks in the city, and the quality of the turf has vastly improved. This improvement has enticed Adelaide United Football Club to set up their training base in the City last year. Local clubs are also profiting from the improved water availability, which in turn is positively influencing a feeling of well-being and pride within the community.
For more information on the Sentinel Central Control System, or any irrigation solution, visit www.toro.com.au
F | facebook.com/toroaus
T | @toroaus
