In a bid to minimise water usage for watering plants in its 100-acre landscape, Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) has announced the deployment of a weather-based Smart Automatic Irrigation System.
The system, which can be controlled from an application installed in a mobile phone, will help irrigate plants based on the calculation of various parameters, including the evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and weather conditions, officials explain.
On the occasion of World Environment Day, the Bangalore International Airport Limited claimed that KIA is the first in India to deploy this technology.
“The system controlled from a phone, is equipped with a Hydro-pneumatic pump station and an automatic filtration unit, enabling water saving of up to 30 per cent over conventional modes of irrigation,” a BIAL spokesperson told Indianexpress.com.
Further, the smart irrigation system is said to work by using precise amounts of water through drip irrigation, based on plant requirements, and minimises water wastage due to evaporation. The system also saves manpower costs and protects the landscape from over-watering, officials added.
The initial phase of this technology is said to have helped BIAL to efficiently manage the airport landscape during the lockdown as well.
“In addition, the technology is aided with sensors like soil moisture sensor, flow sensor, and rain sensor. Working in tandem with the weather station, it also provides accurate readings of air temperature, wind speed, solar radiation, wind direction, relative humidity, and rainfall,” the BIAL spokesperson added.