Most nurseries and greenhouses rely on overhead sprinkler systems for the watering of their plants.  These are notoriously inefficient in delivering water to where it is needed, at the root zone of plants. 

• According to Cresswell & Huett, Management of Nursery Runoff, 1996, up to 80% of the applied water falls between the pots: water distribution is generally uneven, with the pots most remote from the sprinkler sources obtaining least water: as much 80% of the water entering the pot mix may rapidly drain away to waste, and is not available to the plant.  And, finally, some of the water reaching the pot may be deflected by foliage.

•  Ross Bolwell of Bloomin Greenery Nursery near Sydney, Australia, presented a paper to the Australian Nursery Industry Conference in February 1997. He reported a 92% measured savings in water using Ebb and Flow MAT and that he would convert his whole nursery to KISSS Ebb and Flow MAT Technology.

•  Garden Gate Nursery at Dural in Sydney reduced their water bill by 90% after converting it to KISSS Ebb and Flow MAT.

The suppliers of Ebb and Flow MAT irrigation systems do not suggest that all nurseries and greenhouses will make such large savings in water use.  However, they do expect most growers to save more water than they would use with overhead irrigation systems.  The economic benefits obtained are largest where water is in short supply and/or expensive to purchase or where extensive hand watering is normally required. 

Where supply is short, growers will be able to maintain a larger growing area using Ebb and Flow MAT than would otherwise be possible.  Similarly, where growers purchase water, the benefit they obtain is larger than if they can operate with their own bore water.

In any case, growers can - with Ebb and Flow MAT, easily fine-tune their irrigation schedules for different portions of their growing areas and/or to account for changes in crops or weather.  They can adjust water delivery rates and schedules to the different plants they grow and to the weather conditions they experience to minimize over-watering.