Milburn and Company

About Milburn and Company

Millburn & Company is a Salt Lake City, Utah-based real estate investment firm. The firm has over 7,000 multifamily units around the Western United States, in states including Utah, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and California. Millburn & Company’s properties include apartment complexes, town homes, and condominiums, many of which are surrounded by extensive landscaping requiring year-round maintenance. Millburn & Company is dedicated to positively impacting the lives of their residents and communities by reducing expenses and water waste.

Wasting water on multiple properties

Many of Millburn & Company’s properties are located in Arizona, a state known for its high summer temperatures and mild winters. The company also has multiple properties in Utah, a state known for heavy snowfall. Controlling water usage in Arizona and Utah is extremely important not only to curb water runoff and keep lawns green and healthy, but also to keep utility costs low. However, water usage was not being controlled on many of Millburn & Company’s Arizona and Utah properties. Sprinklers and irrigation systems were watering lawns too much, leading to runoff and high costs.

In 2016, Millburn & Company decided they needed a better water management solution. They turned to Smart Rain, a smart irrigation technology company known for cutting down on water waste and excess spending on all types of properties.

Cutting down water waste and operating expenses

Millburn & Company came to Smart Rain with a few goals in mind: to conserve water, to save money, and to implement a more intuitive irrigation system. Millburn & Company was using traditional smart irrigation controllers, which were outdated and unfit to handle their properties’ needs. Most irrigation controllers water based on pre-programmed schedules, which can be wasteful on days with heavy rainfall. Smart Rain’s products were created to combat these issues and reduce excessive water usage.

Smart Rain’s system uses weather data from local weather stations to water only when necessary, saving Millburn & Company thousands of gallons of water. Smart Rain installed weather-based irrigation controllers on Millburn & Company’s several apartment complexes to help them meet their water conservation goals.

Reducing overall water usage with advanced technology

Smart Rain was successful in using weather-based controller technology to help reduce overall water usage for Millburn & Company. The innovative technology responded to real-time weather needs on the property, and gave property managers better insight into water usage in both states. At their Utah and Arizona locations, Smart Rain reduced overall water usage by roughly 30%, saving about 5 million gallons of water. This decreased Millburn & Company’s opportunity budget by $60,000 and increased their apartment ownership group’s net return.