ExactET Shuts Off Irrigation to Clients 24 Hours Ahead of City Ban

For the first time ever, ExactET management decided last Friday (June 21) to remotely switch off all irrigation systems to 500 plus clients in and around Calgary.

“By noon it became apparent to us that southern Alberta was probably in for its worst flooding in many, many years … maybe ever,” said ExactET CEO Graham Duffy.

“At the best of times no-one likes to see sprinklers running when it’s raining, so when all weather forecasts indicated we were in for a horrendous spell of bad weather, we decided to act immediately,” he said

“Though we’ve always had the capability of shutting down all systems with the touch of a switch, we never had occasion to do so until now.”

Coincidentally, 24 hours later Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi imposed a ban on outdoor watering.

‘We’re glad we were able to assist by alleviating the burden on the water infrastructure in Airdrie, Cochrane and Okotoks as well as Calgary,” said Duffy.

Not one of ExactET’s clients complained about losing service, but many called to thank us for taking care of their irrigation, so they could concentrate on other flood-specific concerns.

The City of Calgary will decide when outdoor watering can resume and at that time we will remotely turn back on our clients’ irrigation systems.

THE LITTLE WEATHER STATION THAT COULD

One of our country-wide 40 weather stations is located in the heart of McKenzie Meadows golf course in southeast Calgary.

When the Bow broke its bank and over-ran the golf course, we fully expected our weather station to become one of many casualties.

But despite a torrid battering  over 72 hours, the weather station and its cage-like enclosure stood firm, even when much larger structures were washed away.

 

“Not only did the station stand tall,” said Duffy, “it continued to send out hourly weather updates to our server.”