The Roslyn Water District (RWD) and Port Washington Water District (PWWD) recently joined together alongside the Irrigation Association of New York (IANY) to host their third annual Irrigation Contractor Training event. The goal of this yearly event is to educate irrigation contractors on the most effective ways to help customers in the area conserve water and follow the District’s mandatory 2024 irrigation requirements while irrigating their properties this spring and summer. It is also part of a push to make sure that residents have a plan to retrofit smart irrigation controllers into their home irrigation systems, which is mandatory for all RWD residents by 2025.
“Our residents put trust into irrigation contractors to ensure that their systems run properly and efficiently, and the Roslyn Water District looks to help them do so in any way we can,” said RWD Chairman Michael Kosinski. “Water conservation is a community effort and education is an important part of making our efforts successful. We are thankful to have seen such enthusiasm from these contractors and we look forward to seeing them put this new knowledge to use.”
This year’s training event took place at the Port Washington Library, the first time it has been conducted in person as opposed to a webinar format. RWD Superintendent Richard Passariello and PWWD Commissioner Mindy Germain detailed the various water conservation needs and mandates throughout their respective Districts, as well as what they have done to work with their communities to get the message out there. IANY board member Mike Dwyer also presented on some of the irrigation industries best practices, providing attendees with even more ideas of how they can help customers conserve water.
“The Irrigation Association of New York promotes the efficient use of water through training events where we partner with water districts to help irrigation professionals understand the need for reducing water use,” said Dwyer. “The goal of these yearly training sessions is to help irrigators and customers achieve water savings through education. Since products and methods are constantly changing, education is the only way to keep up. Promoting best practices and encouraging the adoption of new technology will help Long Island water districts save water.”
“It’s nice to see the education from the water companies’ side, from our peers in the industry and from the customer’s side,” said Jennifer Moran of Pacific Lawn Sprinklers, one of the event’s attendees. “It’s just good for everyone to get on the same page.”
—Submitted by the Roslyn Water District and Port Washington Water District
