Mission Viejo community honored as Water Hero

Signature Control Systems today applauded one of its client communities, Casta del Sol Homeowners Association (HOA) in Mission Viejo, California, for being named one of Santa Margarita Water District’s (SMWD) “Water Heroes” for the month of November.

Casta del Sol, managed by Associa Professional Community Management (PCM), was recognized for taking “innovative steps” to comply with water restrictions mandated by the State of California. In all, the community succeeded in cutting water usage over 236 acres by 20-25 percent.

“We’re pleased that our cutting-edge technology allowed the management, Board and residents of Casta del Sol to be honored in such a way,” said Signature Control Systems CEO Brian Smith. “It’s a great example of how Signature’s smart irrigation controllers allow communities, cities and businesses to significantly cut water use while saving significant amounts of money in the process.”

Casta del Sol is in the second stage of its turf renovation project, using rebates to replace large common areas of grass with low-water use plants irrigated by Signature’s control system.

“The west coast drought is a serious issue and communities like Casta del Sol are not only helping with efforts to conserve water, but they are realizing how to save HOA dollars in the process which in turn will benefit all of the residents,” says Associa PCM General Manager Josh Hodosh. “We’re proud to work alongside such a forward-thinking board of directors who isn’t afraid to make bold steps to improve its community.”

Rather than undertake a costly infrastructure upheaval, Signature used its patented technology to retrofit existing controllers, leaving the work “above ground” and highly cost- effective. Signature’s “Peer-to-Peer” technology allowed the maintenance crew to access all controllers from any controller on the property or via mobile app. The proprietary weather data that is part of Signature’s system pinpoints – by 0.0001 of an inch – how much water was needed to keep a specific zone flourishing.

“The data tells us exactly how much the plant needs,” said Signature’s Smith, “nothing more and nothing less.”

Signature Control Systems recently announced that the City of Mission Viejo, citing the impressive results in Casta del Sol, approved a contract with the Irvine-based company to replace irrigation controllers in roughly half of the city’s parks.

“Signature’s performance in Casta del Sol proved that their technology could cut water use by significant amounts,” said Mission Viejo Councilmember Frank Ury. “We’re eager to get their system in place throughout the city.”