Water Conservation Tips

There are many ways that you the home owner can conserve one of our most precious resources- Water. From the prospective of your planned or current irrigation system, there are some basic and easy to follow steps to help conserve water. Remember, you are paying for this and if you don't have a separate water meter for your sprinkler system, you are also paying for sewage cost for the water you use on your property. Here are some basic tips to conserve water on your property, many of which are also covered in the Watering Tips section:

Regularly inspect and fix problems with your irrigation system. Even a small leak in a main line can waste a lot of water. This is well worth your time, or money if you have a professional do it.
Adjust your heads to stay off of sidewalks, streets and driveways. This is just throwing money and resources down the drain.
Consider using a low volume system to water flower beds and shrubs. These systems greatly reduce the amount of water that it takes to keep your plants healthy. Drip systems are a great example of this. They do require a little more maintenance but the environmental and cost savings are well worth the extra effort.
Use low angle spray heads when ever possible. This reduces the amount of time that the water stays in the air and therefore reduces the amount that is evaporated before hitting the ground.
Make sure that you have the right pressure for the heads that you are using. If you have too much pressure at a given head, you will get too much misting. This water will just get carried away in the wind. If you don't have enough pressure for your head you will not get the correct water distribution and your system will not be efficient. If you don't know how to calculate or get a pressure reading, call a professional irrigator to inspect your system.
Do not design a system that throws water over a driveway or sidewalk. This will just cause run-off.
If your controller has a soak and cycle feature, use it to start the zone several times in short duration to give the water a change to infiltrate the soil. This will greatly reduce run-off, especially on slopes.
if part of your lawn is not green, have an irrigation audit done to see what your water distribution is for the system. If you simply add minutes to your cycle you could be over watering the rest of the property. It may be a situation where you just need to add another head, or adjust the ones you have.
Use sensors that will automatically shut off or postpone watering cycles. These come in many varieties including rain sensors, soil moisture sensors, wind sensors (technical jargon for wind sensor)
Finally, if you think your system is not working properly it probably is not. If you suspect a leak, turn off all the water in your house, and check your meter to see if it is moving (be careful about sticking your hand in the enclosure, there are often spiders and other biting creatures living in there). If there is a problem you can't fix, call a professional to evaluate the system and repair it quickly.