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Talk of The Villages Florida (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/)
-   Landscape Talk (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/landscape-talk-129/)
-   -   Lawn Irrigation Volume (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/landscape-talk-129/lawn-irrigation-volume-312206/)

retiredguy123 10-20-2020 06:36 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jolson (Post 1849943)
We have a corner lot and for May to August we averaged 11500 gallons. In Sept, the same as the person above, we had landscaping done with palm trees that all needed additional watering. While it did rain quite a bit and we cut back on some of that required watering, we also filled a new hot tub and used 45940 gallons. So for this past month our usage went down to 6820. Sounds like you should cut back especially since the weather will be cooler. And if you are watering during the hottest part of the day it could be that the grass is burning.
I hope you didn't fill the hot tub with reclaimed irrigation water.

Klink1627 10-20-2020 06:37 AM
I was an irrigation contractor. Do a consumption analysis. Ask how much each head uses.find out if it does a 360 rotation or 90 or 180. Multiply that by minigolf operation per zone times how many days a week.that will give you approximately the usage.

dewilson58 10-20-2020 06:38 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by retiredguy123 (Post 1849952)
I hope you didn't fill the hot tub with reclaimed irrigation water.
:bigbow:

MoNonnon 10-20-2020 06:40 AM
Rachio is the way to go. Google it. An app goes on your phone and you have total control wherever you are. Easy installation in the garage. We also have a larger pie shaped yard. Our larger bills are maybe 3,000 recently.

TomPerry 10-20-2020 06:57 AM
I have a 5,450 sf lot, but not on a corner. The sticker in the irrigation controller says to water twice a week and the recommended time for each zone. I think 3 times a week is better, so I took the times, multiplied by 2, and divided by 3 and reset my system to 3 times a week at the resulting reduced time. I use 8,000 to 9,000 gallons per month and everything looks great. However, in June, 2019 we had a lightning strike nearby that screwed up my system and used about 87,000 gallons that month! They replaced the meter and I reset the controller.

G.R.I.T.S. 10-20-2020 07:01 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by BruggsNC1 (Post 1849765)
I have seen other Villages CDD bills...

My Irrigation Use is no where even close to similar.

Here are my numbers for Irrigation Use for 2020:

May 25,360
June 26,130
July 34,060
August 40,510
September 41,750

I do have a corner lot so there is a little more lawn compared to homes that are all in a row.
I do not live here full time so I can't keep control of turning off the System when it is raining for several days.

But, Gee Whiz !! ........this doesn't seem like it should account for tens of thousands of gallons difference.

I have had them come out and check to see if there is a leak and they say no.

At the end of June, I had our Lawn care place come out and set the System.
(In June, even with 26 thousand gallons the lawn was looking burned out)
He changed it to 3 days a week. Added time in some areas. Took a lot of time off in other areas.
So, this is why the # of gallons increased after June.

How many sprinkler heads do you have in your yard? (I think I have about 36)

So, does this sound like the normal amount for a larger lot (not HUGE lot) ?
Or, is something wrong somewhere?

If you have a corner or larger lot, give me an estimate on how much water you are using. Thanks !
You could have a hidden setting that's causing the system to run longer than what you think is set.
If it's a Hunter, go online and view videos on how to set it. If you don't want to spend the time going through as many as twelve
program settings (some systems have 4 sub programs under each A, B & C program), I would reset to factory settings and go from there.

Rsenholzi 10-20-2020 07:06 AM
I have a corner property also. Irrigation Prices went through the roof suddenly but I still maintained the same amount of water. Had the system checked and the told me there was nothing wrong with it. I use about 15,000 . I turned the system off and haven’t had it on for about 2 months now. I sporadically turn it on when I think it needs it. Even so I still only watered 2x week for 20 min while the system is on. You might want to have a friend or neighbor check the system monthly like I do. It’s not hard to do

bruce213 10-20-2020 07:14 AM
Rain sensors are required by law, so TV installs the cheapest on the market. Get a new/better sensor. I think as some said there are some that can be adjusted by app.

TheMoyers 10-20-2020 07:40 AM
You may want to change your controller. If it is the Hunter, I have seen electrical storms add watering programs. I recently replaced mine for $100 at Lowes, new one by Orbit, called B-Hyve, and it is completely controllable by smart phone anywhere in the world, and I am extremely pleased.
You also may want to have your connection to some computer driven program disconnected. Many adjust water based on some average reading of rain in a huge part of Florida, and we all know rain can change drastically over a 10 mile distance, let alone 200 miles.
I have a huge lot with no pool, no birdcage, and my water is less than yours, and I have all zoysia. Clemson Univ has a good discussion on water for zoysia. check that and then put out some pans to see what your sprinkles are putting out. Takes a bit of time but worth it.
Best guy I know of for quality and reasonable adjustment is Chip Parish, Action irrigation, 352-516-2281. He is independent. I have had 3 big name landscape/lawn service companies, and none of them really knew their stuff. chip does, and he has done many of the lawns in our area.

mark47 10-20-2020 08:08 AM
I have a large corner lot and average 10,000 gals per month. Run system twice a week for 40 minutes at each zone and have 55 sprinkler heads

mcwood4d 10-20-2020 08:29 AM
Agreed
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMoyers (Post 1850010)
You may want to change your controller. If it is the Hunter, I have seen electrical storms add watering programs. I recently replaced mine for $100 at Lowes, new one by Orbit, called B-Hyve, and it is completely controllable by smart phone anywhere in the world, and I am extremely pleased.
You also may want to have your connection to some computer driven program disconnected. Many adjust water based on some average reading of rain in a huge part of Florida, and we all know rain can change drastically over a 10 mile distance, let alone 200 miles.
I have a huge lot with no pool, no birdcage, and my water is less than yours, and I have all zoysia. Clemson Univ has a good discussion on water for zoysia. check that and then put out some pans to see what your sprinkles are putting out. Takes a bit of time but worth it.
Best guy I know of for quality and reasonable adjustment is Chip Parish, Action irrigation, 352-516-2281. He is independent. I have had 3 big name landscape/lawn service companies, and none of them really knew their stuff. chip does, and he has done many of the lawns in our area.
We also installed a b-hyve (controller) by Orbit 3 months ago ($99 @ Amazon). Very simple DIY installation. Based on our preliminary calculations the system has paid for itself. The system will automatically delay watering if local weather services forecast 1/4" of rain as well as the rain sensor. You can also control it remotely with the app (if your lawn service company applies lawn treatments).

villagetinker 10-20-2020 09:08 AM
Post #21, multiple hidden watering programs may be right on the money, I had this happen to my hunter system, usage tripled! Called the water company to check meter reading which they had already done and they told me that in the 3 days between readings I had used 3500 gallons. I manually ran the 7 zones 1 at a time and checked all 36 spray heads. Found one rotator that was not rotating correctly. Had my landscaping come out and they found the multiple watering programs running ALL under the A program, B and C were empty. Had the system reset, and usage back to normal.

JeepsterGlenn 10-20-2020 09:20 AM
Not sure about that hot tub....
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jolson (Post 1849943)
We have a corner lot and for May to August we averaged 11500 gallons. In Sept, the same as the person above, we had landscaping done with palm trees that all needed additional watering. While it did rain quite a bit and we cut back on some of that required watering, we also filled a new hot tub and used 45940 gallons. So for this past month our usage went down to 6820. Sounds like you should cut back especially since the weather will be cooler. And if you are watering during the hottest part of the day it could be that the grass is burning.
Not sure about the water usage for the hot tub mentioned above. Normal hot tubs are only 300-600 gallons and most swimming pools are not 46000 gallons.

Anyways, I have a corner lot and average 10,000 to 14,000 gallons when run full time and lately only 5,000 gallons since I only run if it hasn’t rained in a week. Grass looks great. Overwatering will cause lawn problems so should re-adjust your schedule....

propjob 10-20-2020 09:28 AM
I suspect you have a valve stuck partially open which would cause your system to run continuously. Wouldn't necessarily be obvious but would cause it to continuously leak out of the heads on that zone. Look for areas that remain wet or soggy. We have a large corner lot and have never seen usage exceed 5000-6000 gal during the driest periods.

akin1 10-20-2020 09:54 AM
rule of thumb used to be: misters use 15 min., rotators use 45 min.


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