As spring arrives in Central Texas it is time for Horseshoe Bay residents to begin watering landscapes again. However, there are a few critical things to keep in mind before stepping out to the irrigation control box to flip the big dial from the winter “Off” setting to “Run.”
For one thing, be mindful that switching on irrigation for regular watering will noticeably increase your water consumption and your water bill. The City of Horseshoe Bay uses tiered water rates, where the charge per thousand gallons increases incrementally with consumption.
The tiered rates mean your bill can quickly balloon to an unexpected amount if you are not careful with your irrigation time settings.
For instance, if you are set to water one day per week, switching to twice weekly will increase your irrigation costs by double.
Consider a two-person household watering twice weekly in August with one start time and proper sprinkler run times. In this example, the residents happen to use 3,000 gallons inside and 17,000 gallons for irrigation. This household would pay $111.10 for just water consumption on the next bill. Irrigation use would make up $79.15 of that amount.
However, suppose their yard maintenance person thinks the grass is getting a little dry and decides to add a second start time without mentioning it to the owners. This change Increases irrigation use to 34,000 gallons over 30 days. The water bill climbs to $218.95, with $187.00 attributed to irrigation use.
Then, what happens if the maintenance person makes a mistake and leaves a third, unintended start time on the controller? Three start times in this case uses 51,000 gallons in 30 days for irrigation taking the bill to $337.40, with $305.45 stemming from irrigation.
It is worth mentioning that this example is on the mild side. Our staff often sees irrigation programing mistakes causing consumption to exceed 75,000 gallons in a billing period for a modest, three-bedroom home.
This scenario highlights the importance of remaining alert and monitoring your bills, even if you are on autopay. Watch your water volume uses for the month as compared to last month and the same month last year. Bear in mind that weather conditions, such as dry versus wet months, will vary usage by way of changes people make to irrigation system settings.
Twice weekly watering remains the rule
The City promotes water conservation at all times, whether we are in drought or not. Because of this, we remain on a permanent twice-weekly watering scheduling. Days to water depend on odd and even addresses and whether the property is residential or commercial and multi-family.
Under this rule, odd residential addresses water from 7 p.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. Sunday and from 7 p.m. Wednesday to 10 a.m. Thursday.
Even residential addresses may water from 7 p.m. Sunday to 10 a.m. Monday and from 7 p.m. Thursday to 10 a.m. Friday.
Commercial and multi-family properties with four or more housing units water from 7 p.m. Tuesday until 10 a.m. Wednesday and 7 p.m. Friday until 10 a.m. Saturday.
Drip irrigation is exempt from these rules and can run at any time. However, we recommend running drip between 7 p.m. and 10 a.m. Temperatures and sunshine are lower at night and early morning, so there is less wasteful evaporation.
How long to run
Many residents wonder how long they should run their sprinklers. Spray heads, which emit a steady fan of water but have no moving parts, should run about 5 to 7 minutes per cycle with two cycles per week in early spring. Add a few minutes as the weather warms, but do not run more than 17 minutes per cycle in mid-summer at two cycles per week.
For rotor heads, start with about 12 to 14 minutes per cycle beginning March 1. Add a few minutes every three or four weeks until you reach a mid-summer peak of 32 to 35 minutes per cycle, assuming twice weekly watering.
These watering guidelines are generalized based on known performance of the different kinds of sprinkler heads used in our area. You may find you need to add or subtract some minutes depending on site conditions.
Irrigation should be shut off for the winter from November 1 to March 1. Plants are dormant, temperature are low, and there is generally more rain at this time of year, so the plants have little need for irrigation.
Learn about your irrigation system
Our homeowners and business operators should learn how to understand and change their irrigation controller settings. We recommend re-checking your time settings every two weeks. If you depend on an irrigator or yard maintenance firm to run the sprinklers, this is the time to have a discussion about what you expect in terms of water use and settings.
To help you find out more, the City offers a free irrigation assessment service in which we look over your settings, measure consumption rates, and make recommendations about how to run your system more efficiently to save water and money.
We are happy to teach people how to read and set their controllers during the assessments.
You will come away from the assessment with information about how long to run your system at any time during the year and figures showing how much your system should use at different times of the year.
Another source of information is the free website watermyyard.org, which is operated by the Lower Colorado River Authority and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. By going to this website and typing in just a couple of details about your system, you can get good estimates about how many minutes to run your sprinklers.
For more information or an irrigation assessment call 830-598-9973 or email to [email protected].
Bill Teeter is the City of Horseshoe Bay’s water conservation specialist.
