Good Lord, have you smelled the irrigation water lately?
 

Always foul, but are they using straight sewage now?

I was working with ours this morning and no odor.

Depends on where you live and how long it's been since you last turned it on or how many people flush at once. :D Some areas use potable water some not. Ours NOT. We have the "sewer-poop-like" water here (Amelia). It's gross. When I get sprayed by it I have to take a shower. I find it's at it's worse when you haven't watered in a while.

OMG. Yuk!!

Have you called anyone about it?

No need to. Bacteria grows in warm moist places and that stinks. Just run your sprinklers regularly and flush them out.

It doesn't taste any worse!

In case you are wondering, treated wastewater is not used for residential irrigation in The Villages. It is, however, used for golf course irrigation.

When it is very hot, water that lays inside our sprinkler system smells very yucky until that water sprays out and is replaced with

A. The water from the same system used inside the home if one lives North of 466. OR.

B. The water from the network of drainage ponds used for irrigation and flood control on the South side of 466.

The grass and flowers do not seem to mind it. All bacteria does not harm. Some bacteria is stinky. Viruses are in the news, get vaccinated now against Herpes Zoster.

"Always" is kinda like "a million cars daily" over the Morse Blvd bridge.:1rotfl:

:bigbow::bigbow:

I caught that too. :icon_wink:
Steve

Let me know when it starts smelling better so I can re-start my front yard morning showers again.

Does anyone KNOW?
 

We are on the southside and have two separate water systems.
One is potable water, used in the home, the other is used in the sprinkler system. As I understand it we actually pay more for water on the southside and the sprinkler water, less treated, should actually be cheaper.

Has anyone tested the sprinkler water? I would assume it includes stuff like insecticides, fertilizer etc. Is it safe to use on FOOD CROPS? Is it consistent quality? Is it monitored? The water definitely has IRON in it. Perhaps good for the lawn but it does leave brown stains where it hits the cement.

If you have those they usually come from fertilizing your bushes with ferric sulphide. You can get rust remover at Lowes, comes right off.

Thanks for your input-but
 

Ferrous oxide, essentially rust, is not the only iron source used in fertilizer. Iron sulfate comes to mind and I'm pretty sure there are others. Yes, any of them will leave stains on cement.

That is not at all the problem or the cause as the stains are clearly where the sprinklers hit and there is no, or should be no connection between your plants and chemicals you apply and the water system. The reason why homes that use potable water are their lawn, must have a back flow preventer.

My question was I and many others use this partly processed water and it hits stuff like veggies and fruits you may be growing.

Yeah...the irrigation water sometimes gets a little "Ripe" :)
Its not highly treated which is why its cheaper.
It seems to occur after a long period of dry weather followed by downpour.

is iron in fertilizer bad for you - Bing

what causes rust stains on the driveway - Bing

Good question about the "things" in the water which make their way into the vegetable and fruits you're growing. If you've never been on the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences website, you should check it out. And/or you could always contact them with your question to get a factual answer.

I thought just the opposite.....the irrigation water is actually more costly than the water inside our homes (south of 466).

I’m in the same position, at Mallory, but why would irrigation water cost more than drinking water? I’d like to understand. I was hoping that irrigation water was recycled water so that we don’t use the Aquifer water so much which would contribute to the formation of sinkholes. Especially with so much new development. But why would water less purified cost more?

It doesn't. If you use a LOT of it your water bill is higher.

Just taking the water use cost from my last bill. Water use only "base fees" not included: It cost me $16.72 for 6490 gals of "inside" water = .0025 cents/gal and $54.43 for 16,490 gals of irrigation water = .003 cents/gal. Not sure if that "proves" anything but that's my last bill and seems irrigation is a bit more than drinking. There may be other factors but that's just raw info.

Hmmmmm

Hm Hu (have nothing to say just though I would build up my numbers)

No, but thank you for caring.


Actually I posted something, but I could not verify it (could not find my water bill) so I deleted the posting. Not a / / / guy, so I typed something else.

Yes...until you get nailed by the sewer cost :)

Oh, that does sound familiar, Gracie. That is to deter people from watering their grass too often, especially in the hot summer.

Depending on where in The Villages you live, irrigation water absolutely does cost more than potable.

I am not disagreeing with the cost of the various types of water, I would just like to understand why.

Lot of contact info here. Why don't you call and ask someone that can actually answer your questions?
VCDD Utilities/Amenities

Bogie, thank you.

Try running at 4am when everyone is watering, taking a deep breath has its moments. Smell for me is about the same since our first home in 2010

If you don’t control you’re sprinkler spray pattern and let water run down the street for 30 plus minutes you’re wasting water no matter where it comes from. Water runoff filling the street drains is waste. So it you are one of the ones then don’t complain about the smell or water bill costs