Here at the Manors, my rain gauge collected only 1.05 inches of rain during June, which is 2.5 inches below normal for the month. [UPDATE: we received 3.8 inches of rain on Tuesday, July 3rd]
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| Daily rainfall here at the Manors - May & June 2012 |
Since the sprinkler system was made operational six weeks ago on May 18th, we have only received a total of 1.25 inches of rain. Basically, it is our sprinkler system that is keeping our lawns green and preventing them from going totally dormant.
I read each of our water meters yesterday and again today. Using the Township's billing rate of $3.431 per hundred cubic feet of water, it cost us $397 to water all of the lawns last night.
According to the experts, proper turf management involves watering the lawn with 1" of water per week. This water can come from either rainfall or the sprinkler system. However a lawn could need more, depending on factors such as soil type, sun exposure, large tree root systems, etc. For example, a lawn in sandy soil such as ours may need as much as 2" of water per week, whereas a lawn area that is in shade for most of the day may only need one-half inch of water per week.
Since the beginning of June, I have been running the sprinkler system zones at 120% of their normal programmed times ($331 per night) and on June 28th I increased it to 140% ($397 per night). That means that a typical front yard zone that is normally set to run for 20 minutes will run for 24 minutes at 120% and for 28 minutes at 140%. At 100%, the lawn in that front yard zone would receive about 0.2 inch of water each night, or about 1.4 inches per week, while at 140%, it is receiving about 2.0 inches per week.
Because of the design of the irrigation system, a rear yard zone that runs for 20 minutes will only deliver about about 0.13 inches of water and in some areas it is even less. Where we have rear yard sprinkler head on the same zone with heads in the front or side yard, I have to set the timer to avoid over-watering the front or side yard, even if it means dry spots will develop in the rear yard. Where a zone consists of all rear yard sprinkler heads, I set it to run for 30 or 40 minutes at 100%, depending on whether it includes half-circle or full-circle rotary heads. Actually, they should be set to run for about 40 and 65 minutes at 100% to receive the same amount of water as a front yard zone, however with only $37,500 available to spend in our budget for water this year, I have to manage our water usage judiciously.
This year's budget line item for water was set based upon the average amount we have spent on water over the past four years, plus 9% to accommodate the rate increase that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2012. From May 18th through June 30th, I calculate that we have used $14,573 worth of water and we still have two-thirds of the season to go. If the hot and dry weather continues for the rest of the summer and we continue at this rate of water usage, we will exhaust our budget line item amount for water sometime just before Sept. 1st.
