Ohio-based Moen introduced a smart sprinkler controller and smart wireless soil sensors at last week’s CES in Las Vegas.

Every lawn is unique. Its soil, the amount of sun and water it receives, the property grade and the region all have an impact on how much and how often it requires watering.

Expanding its Smart Water Network – an integrated system of products working to monitor and enhance users’ experiences with water in the home while facilitating water conservation – Moen is bringing its smart home technology to the area of the home where water is most used.

This simple, intelligent and affordable way to control a home’s irrigation system is accessible from a smartphone app. With the smart sprinkler controller’s intelligent features, users can create custom watering schedules and control each zone independently so they can manage how much water each zone receives. They also can make seasonal adjustments, enable the weather-skip feature that automatically disables watering based on local weather data, and monitor both water usage and estimated savings.

The wireless soil sensors monitor precise data on zone moisture levels and work with the smart sprinkler controller. Unlike soil sensors that require buried cables throughout the lawn, these sensors are simply inserted flush into the ground and then measure the soil moisture and temperature levels at 2.5, 7.6 and 12.7cm depths to determine if they are above or below the set thresholds.

Measurements are communicated to the smart sprinkler controller to adjust watering schedules automatically when needed, and only in the zones required, reducing water waste and creating a healthier lawn.

“Outdoor water use accounts for a tremendous amount of water each day, mainly for landscape irrigation,” said Joy Trillet, associate product manager at Moen. “The smart sprinkler controller and smart wireless soil sensors are an important expansion of Moen’s Smart Water Network, providing users with peace of mind in knowing their outdoor irrigation system is being monitored 24/7. In fact, the smart sprinkler controller can reduce an average home’s irrigation water use by up to thirty per cent, saving the home up to 15,000 gallons of water annually compared with a clock-based controller, a major impact on money and water savings.”

Both products are easy to install. The sprinkler controller can be installed in less than thirty minutes and retrofits to the existing irrigation system. The soil sensors can be installed in under five minutes thanks to their wireless design and patented technology that allows them to be inserted flush into the lawn, removing the risk of damage from using lawn mowers or other yard mishaps.

The sprinkler controller is compatible with Moen’s Flo smart water monitor and shutoff, a device within the Smart Water Network that connects to the home’s main water line to monitor its entire water supply system for leaks and vulnerabilities. By using the controller, the monitor and shutoff can recognise a users’ home sprinkler as another Moen device and will not shut off the home’s water due to outdoor irrigation running.