Sprinkler water usage question
 

I know this subject has been addressed here in some respects but I can't find a thread comparable to this question.

Is my sprinkler water usage in line with that of other owners? We have a Designer home on a normal Villages lot.

I am using approximately 3500 Gallons of Non-potable water per week, sprinkling once a week for a total of 2.1 hours. (5 zones at 25 minutes per zone) I checked for spongy spots indicating leaks but all looks good there.

This seems high compared to 500-600 gallons of potable water per week when fully occupied; normal laundry and showers for 2 each day.

Just wondering if this is in bounds?

Thanks, in advance, for your input.
_

I was told that an average Designer lot will use about 15,000 - 17,000 gallons per month on irrigation. Your numbers appear to be within that average.

Do you have a new designer home? I don't know about older homes but if you open the door of the box which holds the controls for the sprinkler you will see a note telling you how's much you should be watering your lawn and yard. It will tell you you how long the system should stay on for each season. Grass will be watered for longer times than the planting beds.

Your rotors can use different size gph nozzles.
I place a half dozen shallow cans around each zone.
Then adjust the time needed, to fill them 1/2-3/4" per watering.
The help section on this site has lots of info:
Sprinkler System Supply, Drip Irrigation and Fertilizer Systems for Lawn and Garden

This is excellent advice. No two lawns or systems are the same. I have a collection of tuna fish cans I use to test my zones and water usage and set my minutes per zone by how long it takes to fill those level cans 1/2" to 3/4". As NoMoSno wisely stated, rotors could be set with different nozzles, water pressures vary during the day, etc.

I many times see heads not adjusted properly, or one head broken, thus robbing the other heads on that zone the proper pressure and thus flow. Folks set their systems to come on in the dead of night, so they never even know if they have problems until part of their lawn starts to die or flood. I suggest running them in the early morning or around dusk when you or neighbors can notice if you have a problem.

Folks need to understand that sprinkler systems are a constant maintenance challenge that needs to be checked regularly. The good news is that if one wants to learn more about them most all repairs on the heads, etc, can be done at a very low cost yourself....it is not that difficult. The irrigation companies can sometimes charge a small fortune for an easy repair.

It is also correct that your plant beds need less water then most lawns. Some folks also make the costly mistake to underwater to save money, only to kill their lawn and pay big bucks to re-sod.

Frank D'Angelo , ACI

What is the average non potable water bill?
 

Speaking of irrigation use and the non potable water, can someone tell us what the average bill is for irrigation water?

I have a designer on a corner lot, about 4000 sq ft of grass . My irrigation bill for last billing period feb thru mar, $ 33...water for home $11. Irrigation 10,370 gal....home water 1540 gal. I also have lots of planting beds around the house.

Exactly, NoMoSno. That is the only method that will tell you the condition of your system. A lot of lawn company techs will tell you to water a given number of minutes having no idea the actual output per minute is. (Oops, ended a sentence improperly.) Be careful of placement of receptacles. I mistakenly placed one in an area where multiple heads overlapped and got a reading of one and a half inches.