SAVE $ ON IRRIGATION WATER BILL
 

Hi Everyone,

We just received our first water bill - we used 30,000 gallons of water for irrigation for our lawn. We should have only used 4,000 gallons.

We bought a resale.

We called the Water Department and was informed that each zone should only be on once a week and for only 15 minutes.

To determine if your water system is on to long check your meter or see if there is water drainoff going into the gutters on the street. If there is water there, your irrigation system is on to long.

The irrigation system was set by who ever in The Villages has this responsibility, previous owners assumed it was set properly and never checked out their water bill. They felt that the irrigation system was set properly.

Hope this info helps someone.

Hyacinth Bucket

Re: SAVE $ ON IRRIGATION WATER BILL
 

Just curious how many zones are you watering and how long were your zones set for? Some need to be longer than 15 minutes for they cover more area especially where run off is not a problem. I find it highly improbable that you will reduce a 30,000 galllon useage to only 4,000 gallons and still provide sufficient water to your grass especialy in the heat of the season. I think I am running about 6 or 7 zones and my low irrigation water useage has been 12,000 with a peak of 22,000...the difference being it rained some months just before the sprinker system was set to run.

Re: SAVE $ ON IRRIGATION WATER BILL
 

I understand that the problem is that there is a major leak in one of the five zones of the water system, and that that leak has been there virtually from day one of the house. Apparently the original owners never questioned it, since it was incredibly high from the very beginning, that is, no sudden change. No matter how many zones, we are restricted to running the sprinklers to once a week on a day specified in our water bills for a maximum of 20 minutes. The AVERAGE usage of a house in TV is about 4,000 gallons a month, according to the water department; it could be more or less. If the settings on the sprinkler control panel are out of whack, this could certainly account for a larger than usual bill; however, if there's a leak and that gets fixed, it will make a considerable difference in the water bill, particularly if the settings were higher than that allowed by water restrictions and THIS is adjusted at the same time as the leak is repaired.

Re: SAVE $ ON IRRIGATION WATER BILL
 

Why would the size of the zone determine the time of watering. I would think that larger zones have more heads and the heads have a set flow rate that would be the same in each zone.

I was running 17K gallons a month and discovered one zone was on for 40 minutes also the system was running twice a week. All used in irrigation

Changed it to all 15 minute run times and once a week - haven't got a new bill yet to see what effect the changes did to the consumption.

I did note that the water per gallon cost in Fla is about 1/2 what we pay in our area of Cali; however, the sewer is double the Cali rate - - - so it is about even for the two.

Re: SAVE $ ON IRRIGATION WATER BILL
 

If anyone knows how to reprogram a watering system, please come to my house immediately. ;D

Re: SAVE $ ON IRRIGATION WATER BILL
 

Me again. From our experience, even without the issue of the leak, it seems to me to be worthwhile for EVERY Villages homeowner to check the settings on the irrigation system (the box in on the outside wall of the garage) not only to conform to the water restriction requirements but also to see if the way it's currently programmed is resulting in irrigation water bills higher than necessary!

Re: SAVE $ ON IRRIGATION WATER BILL
 

Not sure of the size of you home but hope this helps..

We bought our Gardenia new 3+ years ago south of 466. After closing the installer of the irrigation (Tri County Landscape) stopped to check the system and show us how to change the times for the 6 zones.

Winter requires less water as most vegetation is dormant and therefore 15 minutes per zone is adequate once per week. We average 6500 gal. per month (winter). During growing season the zones are reset to 40 - 45 minutes and useage obviously increases.

We had Tri County return for service (2 years ago) as a lightning strike in the area ruined the circuit board in the timer. We also recently had one of the many irrigation installer/service companies available in the area, adjust and replace heads broken by our lawn service. System does require adjustments and periodic checks that the homeowner can do to check proper spray patterns and zone times.

Hope this helps.

Re: SAVE $ ON IRRIGATION WATER BILL
 

i've found it best to have the heads and controller checked by someone knowledgeable at least once a year.
power surges have blown my fuses twice in 8 years and those resets put the system back to factory settings. lawn mowers damage sprinkler head even with donut holes around them, etc.

Re: SAVE $ ON IRRIGATION WATER BILL
 

I would advise you to check with your Weed care person to see what the watering cycles should be. NOT your lawn mower person but your weed care person. Mine told me that the spray sprinklers (left to right) need more time than the local spray (up and down) sprinklers because they have to cover a larger area and need more time to water the same area as an up and down sprinkler would need.

However, when the morning dew or the rain god is doing the watering, I turn the entire system off.

Do not depend on the rain sensor to turn off the system as I have seen plenty of yards being watered when it is raining.

Re: SAVE $ ON IRRIGATION WATER BILL
 

If it's a Hunter, I've got the manual in adobe format that I'd be glad to send you. I didn't get one with my system, so I found it and downloaded. Really helped.

Send me your email address (I promise I will not sell it or send spam, much.)

Re: SAVE $ ON IRRIGATION WATER BILL
 

Thanks zc - that would explain the longer time on larger zones.

Sprinkler doughnut pods
 

One easy maintenance item is that you should all have "Doughnut pods" around your sprinker heads. This will minimize...not prevent...damage to your sprinkler heads from a lawn mower and riding mowers are heavy and can cause some damage that will result in leaks.
Even if you have dougnuts installed they require maintenance. Due to lawn mowers riding over the dougnuts they can sink and your sprinkler head may not be dropping as deep as they were when first installed. Every 6 months or so the donughuts should be lifted and repositioned over the sprinker head. This can easily be done by a homeowner. SImply dig the doughut up, clear all grass around the head, you may have ot add some sand, and replace the doughnut ...believe me this maintenace will take care of most of your sprinkler head problems especially preventing broken heads.

Re: SAVE $ ON IRRIGATION WATER BILL
 

Our lawn is quite brown at the moment and our weed guy said to water at 60 min/zone (7 zones) for the next month before he fertilizes.

I have gone around and checked all heads for leaks and spray patterns. Noted several loose collars on the rotary heads which not only caused the spray pattern to be generously covering my neighbors lawn as well, but also causing a good deal of leakage.
Next step is to examine more closely for leaks from the base.

Also, on the rotary heads, the size of the red,blue,green nozzle insert determines the gpm output of the head. Check your manual for details.

I believe the best way to test for proper watering amounts is this: Put some flat tins or tuna cans around the lawn. Run the zone for a pre-determined amount of time, say 15 minutes. Check the depth of water in the cans,average them out and multiply by 4 for your hourly rate.
Most St. Aug. experts seem to recommend either 3/4" or 1" of water per week. It is best to water infrequently and deep. Get a rain gauge so you can take into account any rainfall for the week.

1" of water per sq. foot = .6234 gals so it's easy to estimate your usage and needs from there and calculate your needs and usage.

By doing the math you can also determine if you should be looking for leaks.

Also having maintained over 3 acres of "putting green" lawn for several years I can attest that longer is better, 3"-4" at least. Helps keep the lawn moist in the dry spells and captures and better utilizes rainfall.

Hope this helps.

Re: SAVE $ ON IRRIGATION WATER BILL
 

Captain1202

Can I ask what is your water bill if you are doing 7 zones at 60 minutes each. It has to be in the $200-300 range!!

Re: SAVE $ ON IRRIGATION WATER BILL
 

For more helpful tips check the following:

http://www.thevillageswaterwisdom.com/