The days are getting hotter and the City of Lubbock is trying to keep the water use at a lower level than past years. The city is not officially in a drought right now but watering the lawn is restricted to two days per week, year round. The irrigation schedule depends on the last number of your address and is as follows:
Monday & Thursday – 0,3,4,9
Tuesday & Friday – 1,5,6
Wednesday & Saturday – 2,7,8
But that doesn’t mean you can run your sprinkler all day on your assigned days. During the summer, you can only run your sprinkler from midnight to 10 a.m. and 6 p.m to midnight.
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Aubrey Spear says that most homes that have sprinklers double their water consumption on average during the summer compared to what they use in the winter.
“If our citizens will follow our ordinance and only water those two days a week for irrigating and doing it during a time during the least amount of evaporation, which would be in between 6 a.m. to midnight, that makes the most difference,” Spear says.
Residents can still hand water their plants and lawns for more delicate greenery that might require more water.
The difficult thing to know is when a lawn needs water or not. A simple tool like a moisture meter can help with this dilemma. All you have to do is put the meter into a lawn and if it reads a 4 or more, the sprinkler system can be turned off.
The water department says that residents can face fines if they don’t abide by the schedule but they will at first issue warnings before it comes to citations.
And although the water conservation may lead to brown lawns, Spear says it could save you hundreds of dollars in bills.
“It’s to our benefit, not just water or electric conservation, but we save money and that’s what is the most important to most people.”
A homeowner that we spoke to said conserving water was a topic he took into his home buying decision.
“In addition to that we chose a garden home that has less lawn area to do watering. My wife has some plants in the garden side but we don’t have a lot of grass to water,” Randy Allen said about his Tivoli Estates home.
CLICK HERE for the City of Lubbock Water Department’s website for more information on water conservation in Lubbock.
