Water Savings & Environmental

At EZ-FLO we concern ourselves with the concept of saving water and fertilizing responsibly. We all face choices in how we live our lives. Twenty years ago, few people recycled their newspapers, cans or bottles. Now most do because we understand that this is the responsible thing to do. In the last decade, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published guidelines setting forth the requirements for clean drinking water and the need to reduce non-point source pollution (NPSP) to keep our waters sources clean.

There are extensive research studies about the water savings that result when fertigation is used to feed plants. It all started in the agricultural sector some fifty years ago. Today farmers use fertigation extensively in growing all types of crops. You also see fertigation when you visit your local nursery. Virtually all plant materials at nurseries have been grown using fertigation.

The objective of fertilizing is to provide nutrients to the plant. Fertigation does that by proportioning low doses of fertilizer into the irrigation water stream. As noted previously, studies have shown that plants can much more efficiently absorb fertilizer nutrients when mixed with the water. Contrast this to bulk broadcast fertilization where excessive amounts of fertilizer are applied topically and only through rainfall or irrigation watering is the fertilizer dissolved into the soils.

In addition to reducing water and fertilizer needs, the need for herbicides and pesticides is reduced to the higher health level of the entire landscape. Insects attack weak plants so a weak landscape becomes a magnet to pests, increasing the need for pesticides. Thin turf has bare spots that are the perfect home for weed seeds to settle and to germinate. A thick, properly nourished turf fills in the bare spots and crowds out potential homes for weeds.