Talk of The Villages Florida

Talk of The Villages Florida (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/)
-   The Villages, Florida, General Discussion (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/)
-   -   Water usage? (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/water-usage-350367/)

Princeton 05-29-2024 09:50 AM

Water usage?
 
Hi all, I need a general consensus on water usage. I live in a patio villa. The sprinkler system has three sections which are on 15 minutes each two times a week. My water usage bill for reclaimed water is close to 8000 gallons for a month and that seems extremely high. Does anybody know where to find the reclaimed water meter so I can check it when everything‘s off to make sure that I don’t have a leak. Or does this seem about right? Also my personal water usage seems high 2700 gallons a month for just one person so I would like to check that meter too.

Bogie Shooter 05-29-2024 10:01 AM

Water Conservation | The Villages Water Wisdom

Bill14564 05-29-2024 10:02 AM

Page 3 of the May 9 District Weekly Bulletin has information on typical water usage.

I don't live in a patio villa so I can't help with the meter location. With two of us in the home and a smaller lawn watered twice a week at about 20mins for each of the four zones my monthly usage is:
Potable water: a little less than 2,000gals
Irrigation water: average of about 6,000 gals with peak months at 10,000 and low months around 3,500

Topspinmo 05-29-2024 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princeton (Post 2335630)
Hi all, I need a general consensus on water usage. I live in a patio villa. The sprinkler system has three sections which are on 15 minutes each two times a week. My water usage bill for reclaimed water is close to 8000 gallons for a month and that seems extremely high. Does anybody know where to find the reclaimed water meter so I can check it when everything‘s off to make sure that I don’t have a leak. Or does this seem about right? Also my personal water usage seems high 2700 gallons a month for just one person so I would like to check that meter too.

I’d you have popups the amount of water per minute/hours can be measured and calculated. If you have large amount of runoff (running down street) might consider reducing run time some? IMO 45 mins two time week run time not that far off.

Princeton 05-29-2024 10:13 AM

Funny, I’m a retired financial controller, and I never thought about doing the math…. Thanks for the website info. I checked that prior to the post. I find these websites underestimate usage and make me feel guilty.

retiredguy123 05-29-2024 12:14 PM

Your water usage seems a little high. I have a villa and use about 1,000 gallons of potable water and 4,000 gallons of irrigation water. However, I only use irrigation water for about 5 minutes in the shrub areas and 20 minutes in the grass area, two times per week. I would suggest that you view a few of your neighbors water bills by searching their addresses on districtgov.org. Water bills are public information. Also, I would suggest that you check your toilets because they are the most likely cause for leaks in a house. The gasket at the bottom of the canister inside the toilet tank needs to be replaced on a regular basis.

Altavia 05-29-2024 01:12 PM

A Flume will let you monitor water usage. It detects leaks and surges such as if a sprinkler head breaks off. It can pay for it's self detecting a major leak.

Flume Water | Smart Home Water Monitor | Water Leak Detector

Self-install in under 10 minutes. No plumbing necessary!

Detect leaks and get notified immediately.

Monitor and manage your water use—indoors and out.

Break down your water use by individual household appliances and water fixtures.

Save money and conserve water with custom budgets and leak alerts.

Pondboy 05-29-2024 01:38 PM

Your irrigation meters are buried in your lawn area….probably near the front or side of your villa. It may be covered over by grass or some type of landscaping materials (pine straw) So tap down on the areas (with a stick or pole)to find it. You should also have at least one if not two cut off valves. One for reclaimed water and the other potable.

You should really, really measure how much water your irrigation system (by zone) puts out. Finding an average from other villa owners on this forum could be wasteful.

To do this put out cups or cans around your yard and measure out the accumulated water. If you have St Augustine grass, you need a minimum of 1” of water per week. I think 1.5” is best over a 3 times per week schedule.

Topspinmo 05-29-2024 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retiredguy123 (Post 2335672)
Your water usage seems a little high. I have a villa and use about 1,000 gallons of potable water and 4,000 gallons of irrigation water. However, I only use irrigation water for about 5 minutes in the shrub areas and 20 minutes in the grass area, two times per week. I would suggest that you view a few of your neighbors water bills by searching their addresses on districtgov.org. Water bills are public information. Also, I would suggest that you check your toilets because they are the most likely cause for leaks in a house. The gasket at the bottom of the canister inside the toilet tank needs to be replaced on a regular basis.

Ok let do the math, you water 20 mins twice week he waters 45 mins twice s week? He uses 8000 gallons of water you use 5000 Gallons one of water? The answer is. ________. Sounds He watering 25 minutes longer and using less water than you’re 20 mins watering?

retiredguy123 05-29-2024 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Topspinmo (Post 2335751)
Ok let do the math, you water 20 mins twice week he waters 45 mins twice s week? He uses 8000 gallons of water you use 5000 Gallons one of water? The answer is. ________. Sounds He watering 25 minutes longer and using less water than you’re 20 mins watering?

Not exactly. I water 30 minutes (3 zones: 5 minutes, + 5 minutes + 20 minutes) two times per week, and use 4,000 gallons of irrigation water per month. He waters 45 minutes (15 + 15 + 15) two times per week and uses 8,000 gallons per month. So, he is watering for more minutes, and is using 3,000 gallons of water more than I am. I doubt that he has a leak. I think he could save some water by reducing the watering times for the shrub areas because they shouldn't need as much water as the grass.

JoeKnapp51 05-30-2024 04:33 AM

I have a patio villa. I had new sod put down in front of house. I have been running front irrigation more to help get it growing. My last water report for irrigation was 6000 gallons. I think yours is very high.

Bill14564 05-30-2024 05:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retiredguy123 (Post 2335756)
Not exactly. I water 30 minutes (3 zones: 5 minutes, + 5 minutes + 20 minutes) two times per week, and use 4,000 gallons of irrigation water per month. He waters 45 minutes (15 + 15 + 15) two times per week and uses 8,000 gallons per month. So, he is watering for more minutes, and is using 3,000 gallons of water more than I am. I doubt that he has a leak. I think he could save some water by reducing the watering times for the shrub areas because they shouldn't need as much water as the grass.

I just looked at my timer: 60 minutes per run (five zones rather than three), two runs per week and I use approx. 6,000 gals per month.

30 mins -> 4,000 gals -> 133 gals/minute avg over all runs
45 mins -> 8,000 gals -> 178 gals/minute avg over all runs
60 mins -> 6,000 gals -> 100 gals/minute avg over all run

Mine is likely lower due to fewer heads in each zone; I have long, narrow lawn areas requiring more zones but fewer heads.

If the 45 minutes and two times per week is accurate (no extra watering for new sod, no extra watering for high temps) then 178 does seems high.

Another thing to look for would be a missing/broken head. A geyser in the lawn could account for a bit of extra water.

Desiderata 05-30-2024 05:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princeton (Post 2335630)
Hi all, I need a general consensus on water usage. I live in a patio villa. The sprinkler system has three sections which are on 15 minutes each two times a week. My water usage bill for reclaimed water is close to 8000 gallons for a month and that seems extremely high. Does anybody know where to find the reclaimed water meter so I can check it when everything‘s off to make sure that I don’t have a leak. Or does this seem about right? Also my personal water usage seems high 2700 gallons a month for just one person so I would like to check that meter too.

8,000 gallons does sound high. I previously had a patio villa and typically used 3,000 irrigation gallons per month. Then one day I received a bill stating I used 22,000 gallons that month. I checked for leaks. There were none. I made several calls to the water dept, transferred and put on hold then would be told someone would get back to me. They never did. After many attempts to get someone at the water dept to help me I finally connected with a rep who agreed to send out someone to check the meter. It was determined the meter was broken and it got replaced. No problems since.

La lamy 05-30-2024 06:12 AM

I highly recommend people try to let nature do its thing and stop their irrigation system for a while. Mine has been off for years and the grass is fine. It's Florida, things grow VERY WELL!!!

MandoMan 05-30-2024 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princeton (Post 2335630)
Hi all, I need a general consensus on water usage. I live in a patio villa. The sprinkler system has three sections which are on 15 minutes each two times a week. My water usage bill for reclaimed water is close to 8000 gallons for a month and that seems extremely high. Does anybody know where to find the reclaimed water meter so I can check it when everything‘s off to make sure that I don’t have a leak. Or does this seem about right? Also my personal water usage seems high 2700 gallons a month for just one person so I would like to check that meter too.

I live alone in a Courtyard Villa. Similar watering schedule. In the same period, irrigation water was 1630 gallons and in-home water use was 1020 gallons. Apart from the base charge we all pay, my water use charge totaled just under $6. My SECO bill was $95, keeping the AC at 73° 24/7. Not bad! You may have a leak. When I had a home with a pool and a much bigger lawn here a couple years ago, my water usage was around 12,000 gallons per month.

mkjelenbaas 05-30-2024 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princeton (Post 2335630)
Hi all, I need a general consensus on water usage. I live in a patio villa. The sprinkler system has three sections which are on 15 minutes each two times a week. My water usage bill for reclaimed water is close to 8000 gallons for a month and that seems extremely high. Does anybody know where to find the reclaimed water meter so I can check it when everything‘s off to make sure that I don’t have a leak. Or does this seem about right? Also my personal water usage seems high 2700 gallons a month for just one person so I would like to check that meter too.

Don’t know where to find a meter but thanks for asking.

GizmoWhiskers 05-30-2024 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retiredguy123 (Post 2335756)
Not exactly. I water 30 minutes (3 zones: 5 minutes, + 5 minutes + 20 minutes) two times per week, and use 4,000 gallons of irrigation water per month. He waters 45 minutes (15 + 15 + 15) two times per week and uses 8,000 gallons per month. So, he is watering for more minutes, and is using 3,000 gallons of water more than I am. I doubt that he has a leak. I think he could save some water by reducing the watering times for the shrub areas because they shouldn't need as much water as the grass.

Yeah, I do 9 min bushes, 15 and 15 about 9 mos of the yr 3x a wk to get the recommended 45 min of water on grass a wk.

Every once in a while T V likes to throw in some unexplained random rise of almost double water usage bill out of the blue. Saw a news clip on that phenomenon but didn't follow up.

Only in T V do you pay for regular water in, AND WATER OUT plus sewer costs. Very strange to me but what are you gonna do??? Potable water is cheaper than reclaimed too... another anomaly for T V.

Orlando reclaimed water used to be like $8 bucks a month once upon a time...

retiredguy123 05-30-2024 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GizmoWhiskers (Post 2335854)
Yeah, I do 9 min bushes, 15 and 15 about 9 mos of the yr 3x a wk to get the recommended 45 min of water on grass a wk.

Every once in a while T V likes to throw in some unexplained random rise of almost double water usage bill out of the blue. Saw a news clip on that phenomenon but didn't follow up.

Only in T V do you pay for regular water in, AND WATER OUT plus sewer costs. Very strange to me but what are you gonna do??? Potable water is cheaper than reclaimed too... another anomaly for T V.

Orlando reclaimed water used to be like $8 bucks a month once upon a time...

I suggest that you take another look at your water bill. In my case, potable water is about 3 times the cost of irrigation water, when you consider that the sewer charge is based on the amount of potable water used. I pay about 0.9 cents per gallon for potable water and about 0.3 cents per gallon for irrigation water.

retiredguy123 05-30-2024 07:19 AM

To put things in perspective, 1,000 gallons of irrigation water only costs about 3 dollars.

G.R.I.T.S. 05-30-2024 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princeton (Post 2335630)
Hi all, I need a general consensus on water usage. I live in a patio villa. The sprinkler system has three sections which are on 15 minutes each two times a week. My water usage bill for reclaimed water is close to 8000 gallons for a month and that seems extremely high. Does anybody know where to find the reclaimed water meter so I can check it when everything‘s off to make sure that I don’t have a leak. Or does this seem about right? Also my personal water usage seems high 2700 gallons a month for just one person so I would like to check that meter too.

Double check those settings. On older controllers, there are 4 numbered settings under each of the Programs A, B and C. Those numbers are difficult to see if you are not looking for them. Even if you are using only one program, you could be running four!

Bill14564 05-30-2024 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GizmoWhiskers (Post 2335854)
Yeah, I do 9 min bushes, 15 and 15 about 9 mos of the yr 3x a wk to get the recommended 45 min of water on grass a wk.

Every once in a while T V likes to throw in some unexplained random rise of almost double water usage bill out of the blue. Saw a news clip on that phenomenon but didn't follow up.

Only in T V do you pay for regular water in, AND WATER OUT plus sewer costs. Very strange to me but what are you gonna do??? Potable water is cheaper than reclaimed too... another anomaly for T V.

Orlando reclaimed water used to be like $8 bucks a month once upon a time...

What do you mean by the highlighted section above? I pay for the number of gallons of potable water that flows through my meter, both for the water I received and for the treatment of that water after I used it. I suppose you could call that water in and water out. The sewer charge *is* the water out charge, not an additional charge.

Paying a sewer rate based on the amount of water used is not an anomaly for TV, it is a standard practice for the industry.

NoMoSno 05-30-2024 07:53 AM

Do the tuna can test to determine run times for each zone. Every system may be different.
1 to 1-1/2" per week total is recommended in the summer.
One inch of water or rain is equivalent to 623 gallons per 1,000 square feet.
how many gallons of water over 1000sq ft at 1 inch - Google Search

Gallons per Square Foot Calculator

NoMoSno 05-30-2024 07:53 AM

/// duplicate post

JRcorvette 05-30-2024 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princeton (Post 2335630)
Hi all, I need a general consensus on water usage. I live in a patio villa. The sprinkler system has three sections which are on 15 minutes each two times a week. My water usage bill for reclaimed water is close to 8000 gallons for a month and that seems extremely high. Does anybody know where to find the reclaimed water meter so I can check it when everything‘s off to make sure that I don’t have a leak. Or does this seem about right? Also my personal water usage seems high 2700 gallons a month for just one person so I would like to check that meter too.

That sounds super hight…. I have 7 zones and water all of them every day for 20 minutes las month and my usage was only 2,013 gallons ! Something is not right with your irrigation system or meter.

rickaslin 05-30-2024 08:20 AM

water
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Princeton (Post 2335630)
Hi all, I need a general consensus on water usage. I live in a patio villa. The sprinkler system has three sections which are on 15 minutes each two times a week. My water usage bill for reclaimed water is close to 8000 gallons for a month and that seems extremely high. Does anybody know where to find the reclaimed water meter so I can check it when everything‘s off to make sure that I don’t have a leak. Or does this seem about right? Also my personal water usage seems high 2700 gallons a month for just one person so I would like to check that meter too.

I live in a Villa,The Villages has a history of water meter reading being way off but that is another story. My in house useage is @ 1600-1800 gallons (2 in house hold), my irrigation is low because I only use it when needed @2000 gallons.

Bill14564 05-30-2024 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRcorvette (Post 2335897)
That sounds super hight…. I have 7 zones and water all of them every day for 20 minutes las month and my usage was only 2,013 gallons ! Something is not right with your irrigation system or meter.

Are you sure about your numbers?

7 zones * 20 minutes * 30 days = 4,200 minutes of watering in 30 days
2,013 gals used for watering in 30 days
2,013gals/4,200mins = 0.47gals/min

0.47gals/min is unbelievably low for anything other than maybe drip irrigation

sallyg 05-30-2024 08:39 AM

Water usage has always been astronomically high for us in two different homes. Seems unusual that happens only the Villages.

4$ALE 05-30-2024 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRcorvette (Post 2335897)
That sounds super hight…. I have 7 zones and water all of them every day for 20 minutes las month and my usage was only 2,013 gallons ! Something is not right with your irrigation system or meter.

:confused: Stop and think about what you stated..... you really water every day at 20 min. each zone? One zone 20 min. a day for a month is 600 minutes or 10 hours a month ...... you watered with all 7 zones and you only used 2000 gallons for the month/66.66 gal per day??? Less than 10 gallons per zone( God only knows how many heads each zone, my smallest zone is 4 heads)

Sir, you may want to check your figures or your system. :rolleyes:

4$ALE 05-30-2024 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill14564 (Post 2335906)
Are you sure about your numbers?

7 zones * 20 minutes * 30 days = 4,200 minutes of watering in 30 days
2,013 gals used for watering in 30 days
2,013gals/4,200mins = 0.47gals/min

0.47gals/min is unbelievably low for anything other than maybe drip irrigation

;) Would like to know how many heads in each zone too! :1rotfl:

SHIBUMI 05-30-2024 12:51 PM

Sprinkler heads
 
This seems like excessive water use. I can do 4 zones, 15 minutes each 3 times a week and get that much water. Best to call and have the meter checked.

The other issue is the type of sprinkler head. Both Zoysia and St Augustine grass require a minimum of 1 inch of water per week. If you have a rotor head then 15 minutes 3 times a week satisfies that. BUT, if you have a spray(Hunter) head, you will need at least 45 minutes per zone 3 times a week.

I dropped some water catchers in each of my zones and got .3 inches in 15 minutes.
I have rotors. You would need at least 45 minutes per zone with the Hunter Sprays.

I dropped water catchers in the yard when it rained and it was said to have rained 1 inch. However, the catchers only got .3 inches, so, don't think the rain prediction relates 1 to 1 with what your yard will get. And I don't trust the sponge system in the rain detectors..........

My feeling is if you have Zoysia grass you need rotors. The water has to get down to the roots. If you have St. Augustine the Hunter Sprays are better as the grass has surface runners and best not to drench as rotors do. I don't believe there is any water amount difference between the 2 if your watering the grass you have properly.

I put the water catchers in each zone to see how many minutes are required to get that .3. (watering 3 times per week) What you will find is that some zones need more and some less........best to find out as using the same time for all zones is not
reality.

Of course the watering time is less in the winter, BUT, your best to find your times
needed and your grass type. If you have a small yard, think about getting rid of as much grass as possible. If a larger yard, you are just stuck. Recommendation is to
get the meter checked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princeton (Post 2335630)
Hi all, I need a general consensus on water usage. I live in a patio villa. The sprinkler system has three sections which are on 15 minutes each two times a week. My water usage bill for reclaimed water is close to 8000 gallons for a month and that seems extremely high. Does anybody know where to find the reclaimed water meter so I can check it when everything‘s off to make sure that I don’t have a leak. Or does this seem about right? Also my personal water usage seems high 2700 gallons a month for just one person so I would like to check that meter too.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:55 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.32 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2025 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.