A handheld soil moisture meter that tells you whether your lawn actually needs water, built for people in one of Utah's driest years on record. My plan is to make 10 of these and hand them out to my family/friends to use in Utah.
The governor of Utah issued a drought emergency for the whole state of Utah in May 2026 due to unprecedented low levels of snow pack in addition to an exceptionally warm winter. The state is experiencing severe drought in all of its 29 counties and extreme drought in 22 of these counties.In response, most homeowners do not modify any watering plans or simply water less but keep their schedules since there isn’t really a way to verify whether the ground in one’s lawn really needs water or not. The irrigation systems are set on time schedules rather than soil conditions which leads to wasteful practices with regard to water usage in a state that cannot afford to do this anymore.This sensor is a small and affordable device with one button that answers the single question: does this particular patch of ground need watering now? It has neither subscription nor application nor installation. Just put the probe into the ground and get an accurate reading.
I am making 10 of these to hand out to friends and family in Utah.
