[drdodge]

I live south of 466 and have the greenest lawn in my area and my water bill and trash combined was $52.99 last month. I used 5000 gals of water on lawn. non believers send me an email and I will send copy of bill
drd

[chuckinca]

Captain 1202 said:

"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."

I agree with his math (seemed high until I checked it out)

With 5000 SF of lawn watered 4 times a month to 1" each time would amount to about 12,500 gals a month @ .002/Gal = $25 for water and maybe twice that for sewer.

[captain1202]

784caroline,

re: bill.....I dare not find out. I am going to do it for 1 month only then re-assess. We did very little watering in Dec & Jan due to damp weather. I really think our problem is cutting too short and have instructed the lawn guy to cut at 4", and not to cut 'til it gets there.

I am watering to humor the fertilizer man but I'm not convinced the water is the problem, particularly in view of the rain we have had the last 2 months.

[opbob77]

My sprinklers were set by the installer right after closing. Then I signed up for Fertigater, which is fabulous. They fertilize, do weed control, and bug control right through the sprinker system. They also readjusted my sprinkler heads and changed my watering time from 30 to 40 minutes once a day to 15 minutes twice a day, early in the AM and late at night, but still only the one day per week. If your sprinklers are on for more than 15 minutes and you see gallons of water running off your lawn and down the street, then get the system corrected. You are paying for all that water that is going into the storm drains!!

[jjdees]

One way to determine if you have a leak is to check your meter. A lot of meters have a small triangular red pointer that should be at a standstill if no water is being used. Make sure all your water is off and make sure no water use is taking place while you visually check the pointer and if you see movement, you have a leak. 30000 gallons is an awful lot to use on TV size lots.

[Sidney Lanier]

No matter how out of whack the settings were on the control panel (and they were REALLY out of whack!), as the man from the water department pointed out after resetting them, it still could NOT possibly account for the 30,000 gallon usage, meaning there is definitely a leak. Checked the water department records to discover that the previous owners were paying astronomical water bills from day one (when the house was new), so they had no idea that anything was wrong because nothing WENT wrong while they lived here (that is, a dramatic change). Tomorrow we're getting in a man from the company that actually installed the system when the house was built, he will locate and fix the leak, and then we'll see what he has to say. The man from the water department did lift the cover on the irrigation gauge to show me that the little red triangle stood stock still, but we realized that when the system was irrigating, apparently enough of it was running out through the leak that the usage was enormous--but only when the system was actually on, not 24/7. Will post again when we find out the story tomorrow....

[784caroline]

Captain 1201
I suggest you take your "nitro pill" when you read your bill for based on what you previously posted...your water bill is going to be BIG....I mean HUGE. Just take a DEEP breath and let us know the outcome.
I would say the he__ with the fertilizer man!!! Also be careful not to cut your grass tooooo short for Zozia requires regular cuts at a higher lever than what we are used to up north

[drdodge]

HB
I fertilize about every 3 months

drd

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Hi DRD,

What type of fertilizer and brand do you use?

Since you are having such good results would want to use the same one. I have no idea when and if this grass has ever been fertilized. Do I need to know what they put down before I put the fertilizer on?

Thanks,

HB

[drdodge]

HB
I do not use any particular brand. I use a brand that is for my particular grass and spread it on lawn according to the instructions on bag. I do my own lawn maintenance so I get a fertilizer that will take care of weeds and certain bugs.I get my supplies from Home Depot
or Lowes
drd

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Hi DRD,

We have St. Augustine grass. Do you have this type of grass?

HB

[Sidney Lanier]

The leak is fixed! Turned out that when our neighbor had some edging put in around his beds, the fellow who did it for him broke off one sprinkler completely, leaving the end in the ground (meaning that every time it was on, it was like leaving a hose running with full pressure...). In addition, the dolt buried a second sprinkler to the point that it could not pop up to water, leaving a large segment of lawn unwatered. Our neighbor felt bad and insisted on paying for the repair.

The repairman (from the company that had installed the system to begin with) then set the controls in accordance with the water restriction requirements and explained that the zones sprinkle in sequence starting at whatever time. We deferred to him, and he suggested starting at five a.m., two of the ones (oscillating heads) needing a half hour each and the other three (strictly sprinklers) needing 15 minutes each. He also explained that the St. Augustine grass that we have tends to grow thicker vertically over time, meaning that the heads may need to be nudged up periodically. (They are on flexible lines.) All other water programs are turned off, and now we'll see how it works. We are VERY pleased with the work this man does and would highly recommend him to anyone needing work done with his or her sprinkler system; he's also a landscaper and I would suspect does quality work.

Now we have to see how future bills look....

[hedoman]

Hi all

We just got our first bill and, holy moly, we used 23,000+ gallons and we aren't even down there yet. So in 2 weeks we will need to do what has been suggested here to figure out why etc. It's a premier resale on a large lot at the end of a cul-de-sac....

My question is how many times a week do you water and does it change during the year. Do you shutoff system december/Jan once a week until May/ 2 times a week in the summer etc......?

Thanks for your help

[Sparky-30]

I always do my water manually, e.g. cut on zone 1 for 10 minutes at a time, always leave yourself a note so you wont forget to cut off.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by hedoman

Hi all

We just got our first bill and, holy moly, we used 23,000+ gallons and we aren't even down there yet. So in 2 weeks we will need to do what has been suggested here to figure out why etc. It's a premier resale on a large lot at the end of a cul-de-sac....

My question is how many times a week do you water and does it change during the year. Do you shutoff system december/Jan once a week until May/ 2 times a week in the summer etc......?

Thanks for your help

According to Water Wizard on VCDD web site a premier north of 466 total water usage should average 21200 gal. South of 466 outdoor usage should average 17700/month. More info here:
http://www.thevillageswaterwisdom.co...owMuch1109.pdf