Utility cost-conscious apartment owners are focused more than ever on conservation. Reducing water use typically appears near the top of their dashboard and many are finding ways to cut use through smart irrigation.

Prometheus Real Estate Group passed $23,000 in savings to its owners at their 830-unit Saratoga Ridge property in Phoenix during one watering season. Prometheus uses a product where community staff adjusts the settings on a device that provides accurate, real-time, site-specific weather data—down to 1 square kilometer—and its proprietary scheduling engine automatically adjusts watering schedules based on four weather parameters: temperature, wind, humidity and solar radiation.

The savings paid for the system in 13 months. It also saved more than 2.5 million gallons of water and more than $15,000 within a five-month period at a Mesa, Ariz., property.

Alliance Residential Company realized actual savings that exceeded its expectations—upward of 40 percent to 50 percent—with payback in less than two years. They were able to cut their water consumption in half in rainy climates where it’s not as easy to see when there is overwatering or pooling of water.

“[We benefited from the system’s] accuracy and level of sophistication,” says its National Director of Sustainability Kelly Vickers.

Cost of the system varies based on many factors, including the size of the property. Irrigation controllers, which can also detect leaks, start at $1,500 for a light commercial six-station controller. Larger systems use as many as 96 stations. Typically, the return on investment is within three years.

Also to consider is whether the community is a new development, or one that is being retrofitted.