OK - same boat as Tom here. Over 30K gallons per month.

1> There is no leak on mine - meter not moving except when water is running through.

2> 6 zones set for just over 3 hours total X 2 per week.

3> The measured gallons per minute from zone 1 for example was 16.8 gpm. If you do the math that is just under 2 gpm on each head in the zone. If you look up the rating on the head that is what it is supposed to be.

So my question is this: Do those of you that say you have a much smaller bill actually do the math on comparing your lot and number of sprinkler heads to Tom's (and mine) or are you just guessing since your bill is lower?

If someone who has a smaller bill please count the number of actual sprinkler heads and report it to us that would be very useful in determining if we have some other weird issue. Thanks.

My neighbor with a similar size grass area (large cul-de-sac type with 6 full zones) has the same numbers and the same bill.

Interesting facts, Living Large. For what it's worth, I have a large pie shaped property (Cul-de-sac) and when I cut back on watering in the past, my lawn began showing brown spots. I feel, in the hot months I need to run the sprinkler system twice a week. If I were there to monitor it, I could regulate the water use by watering when I needed it. PS: I did add a soaker to Zone 3 41 minutes) to protect my three newly planted palm trees. I still can't believe of my 27,960 gallons usage.

Hunter contol
 

Hv new system. Set up by builder. I can see program A but can t move it to Program B or C to ck them. How is it done? Thank you

Sometimes you don't have a B or C
 

I have a designer home with a Hunter system and only have an A program, so you might not have a B or C.

Should be instructions inside cover. If not you should have a users manual. If not go to the Hunter site.
Did you press the program button?

water usage
 

How long have you have you had your home? You should be able to compare you monthly bill to see the increase in usage. It looks to me like you home is in Buttonwood which is south of 466.For homes south of 466, the water you use for inside your home is shown separately from the water used for irrigation on your monthly bill. Homes north of 466 have the inside water and irrigation water calculated together. So not being in the home and using inside water would not affect the amount of water that is being used for irrigation.

Hope you can successfully find the solution to your problem!

I have only been in The Villages for five months. I have no real guide to judge by.
And yes, we get three bills for water. The problem is, the overuse letter comes before the actual bill, so I have nothing to reference the usage. I also have alarge property. Cul-de-sac is pie shaped and there is something like 119 feet wide at the largest point. I do have more to water than the average house. But I haven't been home since August 16. I'll keep you posted. My friend is going over today to find out the problem.

what did the water dept. say when you called?

The water company said I am using too much water. Without me not being there to monitor the problem I can't do much.

My friend came over and checked the irrigation system for leaks and there are none. This is a good sign. I told him to reduce the percentage from 80% to 50%. I am watering twice a week. This should cut the usage. He will keep an eye on property. If grass starts turning brown, he'll adjust it accordingly. Not much else I can do at this point.

did he check all three programs??

Yes, he did. Only one is running. He mentioned something about seeing the third cabinet door to 3 & 10. Not exactly sure what that was about but he said, "The manual said the readings should be at those settings."

Has anyone (living south of 466) who says they have a lot smaller bill watering two times per week counted the number of heads they are using? that is the only real way to judge since each head puts out X gpm of water. If your lot has 20 sprikler heads (x # of rotary, x # of etc.) and my lot has 50 then I'm using 150% more than you. Othewise everyone is just guessing at the problem. It might be that Tom (like me) has a large # of sprinkler points. Since neither of us has a leak it might be that our only recourse is to lower the total time.

If your bill south of 466 is less than $100 for irrigation water last month, I'd love to find out how many sprinkler heads you have. Mine was almost $200 just for irrigation water. I'm back home right now but I'll count mine when I get back next week.

By nature I abhor excessiveness because of its self-centerness. On the other hand I kind of resent the water police here. Those mcmansions further down the coast are not policed and they use more water in one day then some of us do in 6 months or more...and they only have one water rate unlike our three tier. My wife and I check our accounts on a continuum so we don't need their intrusions..................I'm just saying

Its a form letter triggered by a computer.

Tom by now you probably have the problem figured out but to give you some idea i looked at my usage which i keep track of monthly to give you some idea of what might be close to normal usage. Heres what i averaged per month for the last 5 years.
2010 6308
2009 5741
2008 4883
2007 6533
2006 8400

I watch my irrigation system like a hawk and when it rains i always shut off my system if we get enough rain. Have a rain gauge which is a great help.