Park City Hospital’s landscaping project includes a reduction of grass
Park City Hospital is switching to water wise landscaping and installing a high-tech irrigation system to save water. The $317,000 project includes tearing out grass from several areas around the campus and replacing it with more than 20,000-square-feet of rocks, 400 native plants, and 100 trees. The live trees and plants will be watered using a drip system that will use far less water than sprinklers.
The hospital will keep some areas of grass for patient use and scenery, but 13,700-square feet of subsurface drip lines will be installed that will water the grass from the roots instead of using sprinklers on the surface. This irrigation system is estimated to use one-tenth the water.
The new irrigation plans include a high-tech water monitoring system, which tracks weather, temperature, and moisture to help reduce watering. It can also detect leaks in the system and alerts crews on their phones when water use is higher than normal. The irrigation system will automatically turn off until leaks can be fixed.
“The reduction of grass at Park City is a very good example of the water conservation projects Intermountain is looking to roll out more widely across the organization,” says Glen Garrick, director of sustainability. “Every hospital and clinic is currently being assessed for opportunities to reduce landscaping water use. Though our water conservation work today may seem like a response to this year’s drought, Intermountain’s water conservation efforts have been happening for years and will continue to happen regardless of a drought.”