As we turn our clocks back one hour at 2 am Sunday morning it is also time to change your irrigation timer settings to water your lawn on a designated day.
Lawns need significantly less water in Florida’s winter months, so watering restrictions go in place to conserve resources while helping to minimize overwatering issues relating excessive fungus and weeds.
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Starting Sunday, Nov. 1, homeowners and businesses across the 18 counties of the St. Johns River Water Management District should reset their automatic sprinkler systems to water no more than once a week.
•For homeowners this means watering only on weekends for one day only. Odd addresses water on Saturday and even residential addresses Sunday.
•Non-residential addresses can only water on Tuesday.
•No irrigation is allowed between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
“Research shows that, in Florida’s cooler months, grass and plants don’t need as much water to be healthy — you can save water and money and still have a beautiful lawn,” said St. Johns River Water Management District Executive Director Dr. Ann Shortelle. “When you turn back your clocks Saturday night, be sure to also reset your sprinkler timers to water only on the designated day for your address. Keep in mind that you may not need supplemental irrigation at all if it has rained.”
Public water supply is the largest category of water use in the District’s 18-county region — about 565.5 million gallons of water a day. Most of this water is for residential water use, and many people don’t realize that more than half of total residential water use is used outdoors if the home has an automatic irrigation system. Efficient irrigation systems that are scheduled correctly can save up to half of that outdoor water use.