The Rachio intelligent sprinkler controller has a number of merits — for one, chances are it will save you money on your monthly water bills.

Now Rachio has just launched an even smarter system with the Rachio 3 smart sprinkler controller and Rachio 3 wireless flow meter (www.rachio.com).

The sprinkler controller system connects to your Wi-Fi network to manage your lawn watering. You control watering days, how long each zone waters, scheduling (odd, even, every three days, et cetera) or manually with a user-friendly app.

During the app setup, it automatically finds a local weather station, which determines the amount of rain in the area and whether watering is needed.

While watering, Rachio’s water-saving feature breaks up the watering schedule by zone, so zones right next to each other don’t go off consecutively. This maximizes your soil’s absorption rate by not flooding it.

When a leak is detected, you’ll be alerted via the app, and the flow meter automatically shuts down water supply, protecting against landscape damage, flooding and wasted water.

Other new features include buttons on the unit for controlling the system (Rachio 2 is button free, controlled only via app), upgraded weather intelligence and easy-press connectors for 14- and 18-gauge wiring.

I’m not an electrician nor a plumber, but installing the Rachio 2 was as simple as plugging in a lamp. The Rachio 3 is the same.

Presale discounts are available through April 13. Regular pricing will be $249.99 for the Rachio 3 8-zone, $379 for the 16-zone and $99.99 for the flow meter.