[Ken D.]

Originally Posted by jcgrether

Agree with those that indicate this is too much water usage. When we moved to TV we were getting usage like you indicated on a larger corner lot. I switched to WiFi controller, we use the Rachio controller, and it has significantly changed average usage with no discernable change in the look of the lawn. Our highest usage this year was in March (no rain for months) and we used 14,000. I highly recommend Rachio or bHyve type of controller. Plus you can control it from anywhere with your phone.

Good luck

Curious, both systems are based on forecasts? I read often times the rain misses our area, and the sprinklers are automatically turned off. Is that true?

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by Ken D.

Curious, both systems are based on forecasts? I read often times the rain misses our area, and the sprinklers are automatically turned off. Is that true?

For the b-Hyve, based on forecasts and local weather stations. You can set the trigger point. E.g. 80% probability of .25" or more rain.

But this is Florida and rainfall can be spotty. I probably set more manual delays than the forecast.

[tuccillo]

With Rachio, you have the option of using a rain sensor or rainfall data from a network of reporting stations. This data goes into a soil model to determine when to irrigate next. Regarding your specific question, it will also look at forecasted precipitation as part of the calculation to determine whether to irrigate or not. The decision to irrigate or not is made on a daily basis. Both the observed precipitation and the forecasted precipitation are part of the calculation as to whether to irrigate or not. Since there can be considerable variation in warm season precipitation, it is certainly possible that precipitation measured by the network of reporting stations is not applicable to your location. However, over time, this should average out. Using your own rain gauge will minimize this effect. The same thing applies for the forecasted precipitation. I have not seen any issues in either regard with my Rachio. I use the network of reporting stations instead of a rain gauge. One of the nice features of the Rachio (and all Wi-Fi controllers) is the ability to turn zones on and off from your cellphone. This is really handy when checking your irrigation heads as you don't need to keep walking back and forth to the controller in the garage.

Originally Posted by Ken D.

Curious, both systems are based on forecasts? I read often times the rain misses our area, and the sprinklers are automatically turned off. Is that true?

[huge-pigeons]

What you need to do is to watch your water meter to see if it moves when everything is shutoff. Then you need to check every zone to see if you have broken heads or a line leak. Maybe you have some areas that are really soaked/mushy and that could be a line leaking underneath. Or you are just running your zones too long and/or too often. You only need an inch of water a week on your lawn

[Nana2Teddy]

Originally Posted by Wondering

Do you have Zoysia grass or St. Augustine? Zoysia doesn't like a lot of water. Cut times down and water three times a week. If you are full time resident, cut system off during rainy season. St. Augustine is a weed - terrible lawn cover.

Terrible or not, it’s what all of the homes south of 44 have. We removed all of it from our backyard, and will remove up to what’s allowed by ARC in the front yard. Hate it!

[Velvet]

I think your usage is too high, my May bill indicated I used 4800 gallons and I have an average inside sized lot. I monitor irrigation myself and with the dry spring I did the odd extra watering, that was included in the bill. Your lot is unlikely to be twice the size of my lot so I feel that your bill is too much water. Summer is high heat I will increase my irrigation by 1 day per week, that is 30%. I did have all my sprinklers and pressure checked and set by ACI irrigation. Didn’t like the coverage of some sprinkler heads so they taught me how to set the heads myself. I checked a couple of times and adjusted the heads to get the water to the areas I wanted. So far, all is good. Mow my own grass but have other services by providers.
And for retired guy, ACI is good and come back till your satisfied, but, they are not cheap.

[CooperDupper]

Originally Posted by DBaty

I just purchased a house in the Villages and have not moved in yet. The sprinklers were on according to the prior owner's settings (and lawn crew said the lan was not getting enough water). I got my first month's water bill and was shocked by the usage - over 39,000 gallons. We have a large lot (pie shaped 150' x 131' x 110') so I know usage will be on the higher side but is this a reasonable "gallons per month"?

I had an issue after purchasing a used home which had been vacant, and his family member was readying the property for sale. It took me 2 months before i really looked with concern, and contacted District to see what the history had been. I learned it had been high for several months prior to the sale. As it turned out, with the help of a neighbor (you could have a service too), each zone was set under a new program 2x a week. Thus, irrigation was running 3 programs x 5 zones, 2x a week. Good luck.

[OBRight]

You got off easy. Same situation for us, we closed on a resale home last June with a very similar sized pie shaped lot and our first bill they charged me for 82,400 gallons of irrigation use water. I went round and round with them about it. At first they claimed I must have a toilet running until I pointed out it was irrigation water, then they said I must have a broken sprinkler pipe. Had Massey check the system and all was good. I had them do a flow test on the meter and they said no issues with that either. I got stuck with a huge bill for that month! Then strangely my bill for August when I was watering a lot my bill was for 290 gallons which I know wasn't right either. Other than those two all the other bills have been fairly consistent.

[PGApromike]

Many of the sprinkler controllers have a test function. You tell it how many minutes per zone, then it steps through all the zones. I have 4 zones and it goes 1, 2, 3, 4 for 3 minutes each. I can easily walk the property, look for broken or misaligned heads. Don't forget to reset the controller back to run, when done. Good luck.

[Topspinmo]

I hate to pay some water bill. I see lawn/bushes watered for about 15 mins, then the other 30 minutes water runs down street to drain. Especially in CYV with Rock yards.