Read this article on the statesman about water usage. The average monthly usage is 8500 gallons. I checked my bills and I am around 6800 gallons per month… with a huge peak during the summer months. What is your usage? Are you much over the monthly usage? I think the monthly usage in WCID17 is much higher than 8500 gallons as the Austin average probably takes into account smaller homes and apartments. One other thing is do people really follow the “mandatory” grass watering schedule? I know a lot of people that don’t. Before people bring it up the Steiner Ranch common areas are watered more often by water reuse systems, although I wish they would fix some of the sprinklers that are trying to water the road instead of the grass.
Speaking of which, couple of things that I was wondering if people do or not and how feasible it is. Greywater systems and rainwater harvesting… How much/hard is it to do these types of things after the house is built. I think its a good idea, but not sure how to start doing it/if its worth it.
4 responses so far ↓
1 ARS // Aug 20, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I know that the common areas are watered using recycled water, however, it would be nice and it would set a good example if the common areas were not watered in the middle of the day when most of the water evaporates.
2 Anonymous // Aug 20, 2008 at 2:48 pm
I know not everyone does follow the watering schedule. Alot of people seem to , but I know one of our neighbors is watering 2x/day (or at least once/day). And while they are trying to sell their house, I think this is overkill. We follow the 2 day/week schedule and while our grass could probably use one more day of water, it doesn’t look awful.
3 Chris // Aug 21, 2008 at 8:41 am
I haven’t noticed too many people watering on off days around our neighborhood. Actually, one or two “deep” waterings per week is better than a little bit of water each day. If you water heavily, even on one day per week, the water has a chance to work down to the roots and promote root development. Even though we are currently restricted to two days per week, we are not restricted as to how much we can water on those two days (at least I haven’t seen any such restriction). I run about 15 minutes per zone twice a week (Thursday and Sunday), but I have been thinking about going down to once a week for 25 minutes per zone. In the winter time, I cut the amount in half. I was doing this before we went on restrictions. I also agree with ARS about choosing the right time of day to water. In addition to the common areas being watered during the hottest part of the day, I see a lot of lawns being watered during the late afternoon, which is pretty much pointless.
4 Anonymous // Aug 21, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Also, virtually all of the new houses have rain sensors, which qualify those homes for a watering schedule waiver. While most of us don’t actually have the waiver, it is automatic. Still, I agree with Chris that watering mid-day in summer accomplishes nothing, and I see lots of this going on, though I do have to wonder how many people just can’t figure out their timers!
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