Irrigation Water Rates and Restrictions

[gfmucci]

I am accustomed to having my own irrigation well and pump and being able to control it all through an automatic timer set for specific days, hours, etc. depending on the needs of the lawn, rainfall, etc. I'm guessing that system cost me about $20/month for electricity, and about $200 to replace the pump every 5 years - about $3.30 per month.

My understanding of the system and rules in TV is...

The irrigation system is neighborhood wide using a separate piping system from the potable water that is provide to the house.

Each house has a separate timer for when irrigation comes on and the duration.

Billing for irrigation water is on a sliding scale.* The lowest per gallon rate is for the lowest consumption level.* When consumtion exceeds certain thresholds, cost per gallon increases.* This is to encourage conservation.

Each house has a rain sensor that turns the system off when it rains a certain amount.

It hasn't rained for 30 days I'm told by my house watching service.* We are still pretty much in the drought continuing from last year.*

We still have water restrictions that limit irrigation to maximum days/hours per week - I'm not sure of the limitations since I'm not a resident yet.

QUESTIONS:

1) New lawns (i.e. less than 6 months old) need lots of water to get established.* How much latitude is there in the duration of watering allowed by the restrictions?

2) How does the cost of water in this TV irrigation system compare to costs you are accustomed to?* Do most of you stay in the lower tier of the rate schedule?

3) Do you find that you are able to irrigate your lawn adequately given the use restrictions and costs?

Our lawn is Empire Zoysia which I understand has relatively low water needs.

[784caroline]

I was told new lawns can water twice a week...I cannot point to a suorce of this statement but it makes sense.

Our water/garbage bill was the biggest surprise in terms of cash outlay....and irrigation takes up most of this. We water 6 or 7 zones and our bill is about $90/month with once a week irrigation. I make it to tier 3 most months.

Watering once a week (Empire Zoysia) was not a problem

[jadebox]

We are still on water restriction in Sumter County. Only allowed watering once a week. Grass all around is looking brown.

[Muncle]

I was told new lawns can water twice a week...I cannot point to a suorce of this statement but it makes sense.

Our water/garbage bill was the biggest surprise in terms of cash outlay....and irrigation takes up most of this. We water 6 or 7 zones and our bill is about $90/month with once a week irrigation. I make it to tier 3 most months.

Watering once a week (Empire Zoysia) was not a problem


May sound like a stupid ? but are you sure you've set your timer correctly? When I first set mine, I had no user manual and just set it logically, or as logically as I could with those tiny numbers in a relatively poorly lit area. Figured I was just as smart as some irrigation system. Turns out I ended up watering 3 times as much as I thought. So I found a user manual on the web and downloaded it. Actually looked at it a bit (not enough to lose my man club membership) and reprogrammed the system. Now it waters once a week when and how long I want and I stay in tier 1.

Oh, and my grass is a lovely shade of brown with splotches of green.

[gfmucci]

So, in tier one, we can have a lovely shade of brown with splotches of green, in tier 2 we can have greeen with lovely splotches of brown, and in tier three we can have ALL green? Is that how it works?

[DickY]

This link provides some info on the rate structure: http://www.districtgov.org/images/Proposed%20VCSA.pdf
I have a patio Villa and my water bill for last month was a little less than $20. I wasn't here for the majority of time for that billing period. I have since adjusted my sprinkler system and of course I am here full time so I will have to see what that does to my bill. My irrigation usage was 1710 gallons.

[784caroline]

Muncie
Not sure what you mean if I have my timer set corretly? This entire discussion depends upon the amount of grass or area you have to water and the number of zones you have in your system. Obviously someone with a villa who has 3-4 zones will water substantially less than soneone that has 6-7 zones. Also each zone and the timing for each zone is dependent upon the type of sprinkler head you are using and the amount of area that head needs to cover . A narrow strip of grass couuld be watered in 20 minutes but if you are doing a 270 degree area, the time for watering has to be increased substantially. YOu should also water in the early morning when hopefully the winds will not be as gusty (we dont want to water the driveways or roads).

So going back to the original question posed by gfmucci specifically #2 what does it cost, it really depends on alot of factors especially the size of home you have and moreso the area of grass to be watered.

[gfmucci]

Does $25 to $30 per month for a typical 7500 sq. ft. lot, single family home sound about right for decent coverage and duration so the yard is kept mostly green?

[handieman]

Does $25 to $30 per month for a typical 7500 sq. ft. lot, single family home sound about right for decent coverage and duration so the yard is kept mostly green?

Our patio villa watered once a week, three zones @ 30 minutes each = $75.00/mo plus two people in residence.
Handie :joke:

[Hancle704]

Watering restrictions have been in effect in TV for some time. The confusion for some folks lies in fact that TV falls into two different water management districts. The Lake County portion is in the St. John's Water Mgmt Dist. and the Sumter portion is in the South West Water Mgmt District. The first allows lawn watering twice a week, you may have seen their ads on TV? The second only allows lawn watering on one day each week.

When we moved in 10 years ago, we were permitted to water our new lawn every day and the cost for water use remained with developer for one billing cycle after closing. I'm sure that has changed. New lawns need a great deal of watering to get established. This is certainly not a good time to be planting new grass/sod if 1 time per week restriction remains in effect. The watering restrictions, to the best of my recollection have been in effect for several years now and have not been lifted even during rainy season.

[784caroline]

Here is the link to the South West Florida Water management Division www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ and if you look under water restriction and specifically lawn and landscape, there are exceptions for NEW PLANTS which includes lawns.

[gfmucci]

Our patio villa watered once a week, three zones @ 30 minutes each = $75.00/mo plus two people in residence.
Handie :joke:


:yikes: Holy sh.. cow!!! A single family lot with 4 zones would run $100 per month??? :yikes:

[Halle]

Our water,irrigation,sewage and trash is also $90-100 month. I thought that was high but it seems to be about average. Our lot is approx. 8000 sq feet. Wish we could water more. Hear the lawns are looking bad.

[784caroline]

gfmucci
I suspect that $90-100 bill includes potable water, Irrigation and garbage/recycle ...I have 6 zones (maybe 7) covering more than 11,000 sq ft of property. Water is expensive no doubt about it and this is with only one watering a week.

[Muncle]

Muncie
Not sure what you mean if I have my timer set corretly? This entire discussion depends upon the amount of grass or area you have to water and the number of zones you have in your system. Obviously someone with a villa who has 3-4 zones will water substantially less than soneone that has 6-7 zones. Also each zone and the timing for each zone is dependent upon the type of sprinkler head you are using and the amount of area that head needs to cover . A narrow strip of grass couuld be watered in 20 minutes but if you are doing a 270 degree area, the time for watering has to be increased substantially. YOu should also water in the early morning when hopefully the winds will not be as gusty (we dont want to water the driveways or roads).

So going back to the original question posed by gfmucci specifically #2 what does it cost, it really depends on alot of factors especially the size of home you have and moreso the area of grass to be watered.


I may have misinterpreted your costs. I thought the $90 a month was for irrigation water and didn't include the other water, sewer, and trash. I only use 4 stations but they cover a fairly large corner lot. Once a week at 45 minutes per cycle runs about $25.00.

The timer issue to which I referred was that when the system was first set, someone (me :dontknow:) messed up and set 3 programs, all with the same times. Consequently, when the system came on in the early AM, it ran through the entire cycle three times. This was when we watered twice a week. My grass was real green. And my water bill was real high. That's when I went searching for a user manual.

[Frangyomory]

Most of Florida is on water restriction. It is in your monthly bill...what date you can water...once a week. The type water used depends on where you live. On the South side of 466 we have two kinds of water...drinkable and nonpotable which is only used for irregation. On the other side of 466, they only have one kind of water...drinkable/potable. We are billed based on the use of each type at different rates. They are billed the same rate regardless of the use of the water.

The newer areas where they don't have much or in some cases no grass, the irregation is totally different and someone from that area will have to answer the question from that point of view. :dontknow: