Author: Cinco MUD 8

On average, a single-family home devotes at least 30 percent of its water for outdoor uses such as landscape irrigation, but that amount can be as much as 70 percent in arid regions. Unfortunately, without efficient watering practices, up to 50 percent of that water can go to waste due to inefficient watering methods and irrigation systems. Irrigation professionals, water utilities, and professional certifying organizations can use the materials and ideas in this section to help homeowners reduce outdoor water use and promote a healthy landscape that’s both beautiful and water-efficient.

During times of drought, it is doubly important to reduce outdoor water use and help save water around the home.

Improperly maintained irrigation systems can lead to significant water waste. Before your community ramps up its watering this spring, encourage homeowners and other customers to do a little “sprinkler spruce-up” to ensure their systems are operating efficiently. Use this call to action—inspect, connect, direct, and select—to help promote healthy landscapes and reduce water waste.

A broken or missing sprinkler head could waste 25,000 gallons of water and $280 over a six-month irrigation season. Before you ramp up your watering this spring, spruce up your irrigation system by remembering four simple steps—inspect, connect, direct, and select:

• Inspect. Check your system for clogged, broken, or missing sprinkler heads or go with a pro. Look for an irrigation professional certified through a WaterSense labeled program to help.
• Connect. Examine points where the sprinkler heads connect to pipes/hoses. If water pools in your landscape or you have large wet areas, you could have a leak in your system.
• Direct. If you are watering the driveway, house, or sidewalk instead of your yard? Redirect sprinklers to apply water only to the landscape.
• Select. Update your watering schedule with the seasons or select a WaterSense labeled controller to take the guesswork out of scheduling.

For more tips, visit http://www.epa.gov/watersense/outdoors or https://www.cincomud8.com

Improperly maintained irrigation systems can lead to significant water waste. Before your community ramps up its watering this spring, encourage homeowners and other customers to do a little “sprinkler spruce-up” to ensure their systems are operating efficiently. Use this call to action—inspect, connect, direct, and select—to help promote healthy landscapes and reduce water waste.

A broken or missing sprinkler head could waste 25,000 gallons of water and $280 over a six-month irrigation season. Before you ramp up your watering this spring, spruce up your irrigation system by remembering four simple steps—inspect, connect, direct, and select:

• Inspect. Check your system for clogged, broken, or missing sprinkler heads or go with a pro. Look for an irrigation professional certified through a WaterSense labeled program to help.
• Connect. Examine points where the sprinkler heads connect to pipes/hoses. If water pools in your landscape or you have large wet areas, you could have a leak in your system.
• Direct. If you are watering the driveway, house, or sidewalk instead of your yard? Redirect sprinklers to apply water only to the landscape.
• Select. Update your watering schedule with the seasons or select a WaterSense labeled controller to take the guesswork out of scheduling.

For more tips, visit http://www.epa.gov/watersense/outdoors or https://www.cincomud8.com