The start times aren't for zones, they are for an entire cycle. When a cycle is started, you go through each zone that has time for that day sequentially. You can have up to 4 start times in a given program (A, B, or C). The purpose of multiple start times is to allow you to give the lawn time to soak in the water and reduce runoff. If you determine you need 30 minutes to get the amount of water you need on a particular zone, set the run time to 15 minutes and have two start times (or 10 minutes and 3 start times). Space the start times so that the ground can absorb the water.

What I do is set program A for my lawn (zones 2, 3, 4, and 5) and have 2 start times (3am and 5am), 2 days a week. I set program B for my shrubs (zone 1) and have 2 start times (6:15am and 6:45am) three times a week.

:read: CDD 1-11 Irrigation Schedule | Water Wisdom

No one is allowed to water more than twice a week. Several people have said they water 3 times a week. :confused:

And who is it that will tell me I'm watering too often ??

You will get a notice on your water bill based upon your usage. We did when we had to water more frequently after installing landscaping.

It appears if you are willing to pay higher rates for more usage, you can use all you want. SWFWMD can have a serious conversation about usage when they stop selling half a million gallons a day out from under us . Until that day, ...........

sewer costs for lawn water
 

LET ME SHARE MY SITUATION WITH ALL READERS. I live where there is no reclaimed water available. 60% of the water I use goes to irrigation of my lawn and shrubs. It distresses me that my sewer bill also increases by that 60% when in fact NONE of that 60% flows into the sewer system.

Have you ever asked about putting in another meter ??

In the last two months, my water (and amenities) bill jumped to $300 and then to $350. Ouch. My yard is pretty bloody small. It's 6,000 square feet, but when you take out the house (1,900 square feet), the lanai, the garage and the driveway, I figure it has to drop to less than half that. So divide the 30,000 gallons the water bill claims the house used for irrigation by the 3,000 or so square feet of actual watered yard and that's about 10 gallons per square foot for just last month. That works out to 16 inches of water. Somehow I think that's a bit much. Since I'm not yet retired and don't live in that house, I've got our property management company checking to see if the irrigation has been set to something crazy by the renters (which I kind of doubt as they're a great couple from south Florida and probably know a LOT more about irrigation systems than I do). I also call the water company to come check the meter, which they didn't seem all that interested in doing. They pointed out that the water use was the same a year ago. Well, a year ago the house had just been finished and they were putting in sod and probably watering like crazy. That shouldn't be the case anymore. Hopefully the water usage (real or otherwise) will come down for the next bill. Ideally, it's a meter error and I'll get a refund. And in a perfect world, I'll also win the lottery. Hey, shoot for the stars!

I'm also south of 466A and the irrigation bill makes me sick every month. I only water once per week now, and it still bothers the heck out of me that we pay so much for non-potable water used to water the lawn and garden. We re-did our landscaping last fall for more drought tolerant plantings, but the lawn is insatiable, even though it's Zyosia. You are not alone!

We had a significant bill for the first year we moved in. When we added landscaping we found out that a 3/4 inch diameter feed line had been buried but not capped. Our bill was more than cut in half when that was corrected. We live in a corner lot and now use about 19,000 gallons per month - and the water department still complains about that.

I water my shrubs 3 different days a week for a total of 6 minutes each time. Relax.