Aquarius Announces Distribution Agreement
Aquarius Brands, Inc., has appointed Mazzei Injector Corporation (MIC) as its master distributor for the irrigation markets of the United States and Canada, beginning in 2007.

“Mazzei’s products are a perfect fit for our company,” Dave Abrams, Aquarius president, said. “We look forward to being their partner as they continue to develop great products for the irrigation market.”

Rain Bird Services Corporation has announced its 2006-2007 irrigation training schedule. These classes are designed to provide landscape irrigation professionals with expert instruction on the latest irrigation products, newest installation methods, best practices in irrigation design, and cutting edge business skills.

The non-manufacturer specific training courses will be held in 19 cities. Participants will earn one continuing education unit (CEU) from the Irrigation Association for each hour of class attended. For more information, visit www.rainbird.com/training or call 800-498-1942.

Landscape Solutions of NJ, LLC, was dispatched to South Florida last hurricane season to aid with the storm damage repairs for a national landscape contractor. The destruction was overwhelming.

Hundreds of feet of irrigation pipe had been lifted from the ground, irrigation clocks were missing, and pump stations had been crushed. The weather was heating up, and the team knew they had to get water to the landscapes quickly. They ultimately repaired 30 large irrigation systems in a five-month time frame.

This experience led the company to realize that a need existed for a team of irrigation professionals who could solve problems quickly and accomplish massive amounts of repair work in short time periods. They created the Irrigation Global Strike Team, which can be dispatched anywhere on the East Coast within 24 hours for urgent irrigation system repair after storms, hurricanes, etc. The strike team was dispatched back to South Florida this September to work on a large golf resort and spa.

The Irrigation Association (IA) has been accepted as the first partner in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) WaterSense program, the first step towards earning a WaterSense label for IA certification programs. Individuals certified in programs approved by the EPA will be eligible to use a special WaterSense logo in addition to the original certification logo.

The WaterSense label will help raise consumer awareness of certification the same way EnergyStar helped consumers identify energy-efficient products. Irrigation certification is the first product or service category for which specifications have been released; specifications for irrigation products are in development.

A new law in California to protect design professionals could affect irrigation designers. The measure prohibits public agencies from imposing contract restrictions that hold design professionals responsible for negligent acts and omissions of other parties. Designers will continue to be responsible for mistakes in their own work.