Step-by-Step Guide
Understanding WeatherTRAK Water Usage Measurement
WeatherTRAK offers multiple ways to measure and track water usage across your irrigation systems. The platform provides four distinct types of usage reports, each serving different purposes and offering varying levels of detail:
Runtime Usage: This is a measurement tracked on the controller that has nothing to do with gallons. Runtime is the classic irrigation measurement—when you ask any irrigation professional how much water they put down on a station, they'll typically answer in runtime minutes. This is the most common way of tracking usage in the industry and serves as the foundation for understanding irrigation activity.
Measured Usage: This measurement requires a flow sensor and tracks how many gallons you've actually used. The flow sensor measures water as it flows through your system, providing precise gallon counts for your irrigation activity.
Estimated Usage: This approach doesn't require a flow sensor but provides detailed analysis of water usage. It offers what can be called "water nerd" level detail, revealing extensive information about how water is being used on site, broken down by plant type, sprinkler type, and individual stations.
OptiFlow Usage: This is the top-tier offering that provides minute-by-minute flow tracking and advanced diagnostics for systems equipped with OptiFlow technology.
Single Controller Runtime History Report
The Single Controller Runtime History Report is the most simple and commonly used report in the WeatherTRAK system. This report presents irrigation activity in an easy-to-understand visual format designed to facilitate conversations with customers, contractors, or site managers.
1. The report displays a bar graph showing day-by-day usage. A blue line running through the report represents the daily ET (evapotranspiration), allowing you to see the correlation between weather conditions and irrigation runtime.
2. The report operates on a midnight-to-midnight schedule, starting at 12:00 AM and finishing at 12:00 AM. If your irrigation water windows pass the midnight mark, that runtime will be reported across two separate days.
3. Below the visual graph, the report provides detailed station-by-station runtimes. You can track exactly which stations watered and when, giving you complete visibility into irrigation activity.
4. The report includes the associated ET for each day on the far left column, along with any alerts or pauses that occurred during that timeframe.
This report is particularly valuable for building trust with property managers or homeowners. By subscribing someone to receive this report automatically, they gain visibility into how the controller adjusts to weather conditions—seeing runtime increase when ET goes up (protecting plant material) and decrease when weather moderates (conserving water). This transparency eliminates questions about whether the system is working properly and creates confidence in automated irrigation management.
The report also serves as an excellent troubleshooting starting point. When you notice an anomaly in runtime for a specific valve, you can see associated alerts right there on the same report, making it easier to diagnose issues quickly.
Historical Weather Data in Runtime Reports
WeatherTRAK stores and delivers historical weather information for your controller. The ET information displayed in both single and multi-controller runtime reports provides day-by-day evapotranspiration data, giving you a complete historical record of weather conditions that influenced your irrigation schedules.
Customizing and Subscribing to Reports
1. Navigate to WeatherTRAK.net and go to the Reports page.
2. Use the drop-down menu to select the Single Controller Runtime History Report.
3. Customize the report settings. For every report, you can choose to display results in gallons, cubic feet, or k gallons (thousands of gallons). It's recommended to match the unit of measurement used on your water bill for easier comparison.
4. Click the Subscribe button to set up automatic report generation and delivery. Once subscribed, the report will automatically generate and be delivered to your inbox at the time interval you specify, eliminating the need to log in repeatedly to access the information you need for management decisions.
Multi-Controller Runtime History Report
For water managers overseeing a portfolio of WeatherTRAK controllers rather than just a single site, the Multi-Controller Runtime History Report provides comparative analysis across multiple locations.
1. The report displays which controllers are running the most, presented first in visual format with bar graphs for easy comparison, followed by detailed data tables.
2. This report provides a summary view rather than station-by-station analysis. It's designed to give you a 10,000-foot view of all your controllers and how they compare to each other.
3. Like the single controller report, this displays only scheduled irrigation from midnight to midnight. Manual irrigation is not included in this particular report.
4. You can customize the report to separate controller usage by program. Many contractors organize their irrigation by placing all turf on Program A and all drip irrigation on Program D. This customization allows you to quickly see at a glance the differences in how sites are being managed and compare water usage between different irrigation types.
5. The standard view shows a breakdown of stations divided between Auto Mode and User Mode. This reveals how much water goes to weather-based irrigation (Auto Mode, shown in green) versus how much is outside of that (User Mode). This comparison is valuable for seeing which controllers are maximizing conservation through automated weather-based scheduling and which ones are relying more on contractor-defined programs.
This report is particularly useful for municipalities, school districts, and cities that have multiple contractors managing different controllers. You can quickly identify which controllers are in the settings that will save the most water by looking for the most green (Auto Mode) on the report. When you see controllers with less green, you know which contractors you need to contact to discuss optimization opportunities.
Measured Usage History Reports
Measured Usage reports require a flow sensor to be installed on your irrigation system. Flow sensors do not come standard with WeatherTRAK controllers and must be added separately. Once installed, the flow sensor measures gallons as you use them, and WeatherTRAK applies intelligence about how those gallons are being used in the field.
Understanding Usage Categories
Measured Usage reports differentiate between three distinct types of water usage, each color-coded for easy identification:
Scheduled Usage (Green): This is water that comes from the controller's programmed schedule. It doesn't matter whether the controller is in Auto Mode or User Mode—if it's part of your irrigation schedule, it's tracked as scheduled usage and displayed in green.
Manual Irrigation (Purple): Anytime manual irrigation occurs—whether you're pushing buttons at the controller, sending signals from WeatherTRAK Mobile, or initiating irrigation from WeatherTRAK.net—it's tracked separately as manual irrigation and displayed in purple.
Other Usage (Red): This category represents usage that was measured by the flow sensor but occurred when the controller wasn't running. These are gallons that WeatherTRAK measured but has no record of initiating. This is a very telling indicator about the state of your irrigation system and represents a capability that not all irrigation technologies can provide.
Single Controller Measured Usage Report
The Single Controller Measured Usage Report combines ET data with measured gallons and color-coded usage types to provide comprehensive visibility into water consumption.
1. The report displays a visual graph with daily usage bars color-coded by usage type (green for scheduled, purple for manual, red for other).
2. The ET overlay allows you to see how weather conditions correlate with water usage patterns.
3. Green scheduled usage indicates normal operation with nothing to worry about. Large amounts of purple manual irrigation warrant investigation—it may indicate that Auto Mode settings aren't keeping up with site needs, leading contractors to compensate with excessive manual watering rather than adjusting the automated program settings.
4. Red "other usage" requires attention and investigation. This can indicate several scenarios:
- A leak in the system (showing as low-level continuous usage)
- Flow through a normally open master valve
- Contractors opening the master valve and manually turning on stations at valve boxes during non-irrigation hours
- Quick coupler usage by maintenance crews
- Battery-operated valves running inside a master valve override window (a temporary solution sometimes used when converting to WeatherTRAK before wiring reaches all valves)
The color-coding provides a quick visual way to identify issues and determine whether you need to investigate further. This report is particularly valuable for ensuring contractors are properly utilizing Auto Mode rather than managing water deficits through excessive manual irrigation.
Multi-Controller Measured Usage Report
The Multi-Controller Measured Usage Report provides an overview of water usage across multiple controllers, allowing you to compare which controllers use the most water and identify the breakdown of usage types at each location.
1. The report displays all controllers in your portfolio with color-coded usage bars showing the proportion of scheduled (green), manual (purple), and other (red) usage at each site.
2. This large-scale overview helps you quickly sift through all controllers and zero in on sites where you may have issues or need to have conversations with irrigation technicians or water managers.
3. You can immediately identify which sites have the most manual irrigation or unexpected flow, allowing you to prioritize your attention and resources.
4. The detailed data section breaks down usage for each controller, showing exactly how much water went to scheduled irrigation, manual irrigation, and other usage outside the watering window.
This report serves as an excellent management tool for identifying red flags across your entire portfolio—such as which sites have excessive manual irrigation or unusual usage patterns that require follow-up.
Controller Estimated Usage Report
The Estimated Usage report is fundamentally different from Measured Usage. It involves no real-time measurement at all (beyond the initial flow rate values, which may come from a learn flow test). Instead, WeatherTRAK calculates estimated usage by multiplying each station's flow value by its runtime.
Why Estimated Usage Exists
Measuring irrigation with a flow sensor in a dynamic system makes it very difficult to cleanly attribute all gallons to one specific station. When Station 1 is turning off and Station 2 is turning on, there's typically a spike in flow between the two stations. Station 1 may be slow to close, Station 2 may be slow to open, and it's impossible to know exactly how to divide those transitional gallons between the two stations.
Because of this, WeatherTRAK cannot provide clean measured usage for each individual station in report form. However, by multiplying runtimes by flow rates, the system can very cleanly estimate usage for every station individually. This estimated data enables powerful analysis that wouldn't be possible with measured usage alone.
Using the Estimated Usage Report
1. The report shows average gallons used and breaks down the difference between User Mode and Auto Mode usage, revealing how well you're utilizing weather-based irrigation scheduling on each controller.
2. The Water Distribution by Plant Type pie chart shows how water is being allocated across different plant categories (cool season turf, warm season turf, shrubs, trees, etc.). This visualization helps water managers have informed conversations with HOA boards or landscape committees about actual water usage patterns.
3. The Water Distribution by Sprinkler Type pie chart shows what percentage of water goes to different irrigation methods (overhead spray, rotors, drip, etc.). This information is essential for evaluating potential upgrade projects and calculating return on investment.
4. When planning landscape renovations—such as removing turf, installing drought-tolerant plant material, or upgrading to high-efficiency nozzles—these pie charts allow you to see exactly what percentage of your total water usage will be affected. You're not working with theoretical savings; you can see the actual percentage of water that will be impacted by the change.
5. By overlaying this usage data with your water rates and billing information, you can calculate precise dollar savings for proposed water management projects, making it much easier to justify investments in efficiency upgrades.
Station-by-Station Estimated Usage Analysis
The second page of the Estimated Usage report provides detailed station-by-station data that enables strategic water management:
1. Review the estimated usage for each individual station to identify the highest water users on your site.
2. When you identify a station using significantly more water than others (for example, five times the amount of other stations), investigate what makes that station require so much more water. This could indicate oversized zones, inefficient sprinklers, or opportunities for optimization.
3. Use this information to create a strategic water reduction plan based on the highest offenders—targeting the stations with the greatest usage for upgrades or adjustments will yield the most significant savings.
Preparing for Management Meetings with Estimated Usage Reports
Before HOA meetings or landscape board meetings, print out Estimated Usage reports or email them to stakeholders in advance. Having everyone look at actual usage data makes meetings more productive and enables relevant conversations about water management opportunities. Stakeholders can see exactly where water is going and where efficiency improvements might capture the most savings.
True water management isn't just about installing a smart controller and hoping it works. It's a full-scale set of offerings that include smart control, high-efficiency sprinkler heads, turf reduction, and various other strategies. The Estimated Usage report allows you to put pen to paper and calculate return on investment for different water management projects, whether that's upgrading to high-efficiency spray heads, converting turf areas, or implementing other conservation measures.
OptiFlow Mainline Usage Report
The OptiFlow Mainline Usage Report represents the most advanced level of usage reporting available in WeatherTRAK, providing minute-by-minute flow tracking and sophisticated diagnostics for systems equipped with OptiFlow technology.
Understanding the OptiFlow Usage Display
1. The report displays a blue line representing OptiFlow's minute-by-minute measured usage values tracked and logged throughout the entire irrigation day. This provides continuous visibility into how water flows through your system.
2. Green shaded areas on the graph represent the calculated high and low flow limits during scheduled irrigation. For each station that should be running, OptiFlow calculates what the expected flow range should be.
3. As you scroll through the report, you can see where actual measured flow (blue line) doesn't align with expected flow (green shaded area). These discrepancies indicate problems that require attention.
4. When the flow value drops to zero during a scheduled irrigation period, the report highlights this as a no-flow condition, indicating that a valve didn't open. For example, if a controller was supposed to be irrigating at 46 gallons per minute but the system measured nothing, OptiFlow identifies this failure, creates an alert, and documents it in the report.
Advanced Troubleshooting with OptiFlow Reports
The OptiFlow Mainline Usage Report provides essential information for solving complex irrigation problems:
1. The report shows not just how many minutes ran, but what was running when. This is critical for solving hydraulic issues or understanding what else was operating when a particular valve was on.
2. You can see your expected flow rate versus actual flow rate, when during the night events occurred, and what else was running at that time—all essential information for effective water management and troubleshooting.
3. The report excels at identifying stuck valves. If usage suddenly doubles when a new station turns on, it means the previous station didn't turn off. The controller stopped delivering electricity and thought it shut the station down, but the valve remained open. With older reporting methods, pinpointing which valve was stuck was difficult. With OptiFlow's minute-by-minute tracking, you can quickly see where the high flow occurred, what was supposed to be running, and identify the culprit valve immediately.
4. When a station receives a high flow alert, you can look at the OptiFlow report to see what ran before that station, making it much easier to diagnose issues like stuck valves, broken pipes, or other system failures.
This level of detailed, time-stamped flow information makes troubleshooting significantly easier and helps water managers quickly resolve issues that would otherwise require extensive field investigation to diagnose.
Video Walkthrough
Video originally published April 2021.
If you have questions, here are 3 ways to get answers:
1. Search within this WeatherTRAK knowledgebase
2. Visit the WeatherTRAK support page
3. Call 800-362-8774 or email support@hydropoint.com, hours are Mon-Fri 3:00 AM – 6:00 PM PT and Sat 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM PT.