Water Conservation Tips
Recent dry conditions have raised concerns about the impacts of a summer drought statewide. Water use can double on the hottest days of the year due to lawn and garden watering. Listed below are just a few simple guidelines that everyone can do to conserve on water.
Lawn Care
- Water your lawn about one inch a week and a bit more if the weather is unusually hot. Still available at the city’s Public Works shop are water saver kits that include a water gauge to let you know when you have watered 1 inch. This is at no cost to any Troutdale resident.
- Sign up for the Weekly Watering Number. This will tell you exactly how much you should water based on recent and forecasted conditions.
- Mow high and mow often to retain moisture and protect roots from the sun. A mulching mower leaves the grass on the lawn as a natural fertilizer.
Watering Tips
- Make sure your sprinklers water only planted areas. Avoid watering sidewalks, streets, and driveways.
- Soaker hoses and drip irrigation systems apply water directly to the soil in your planting beds and around trees and shrubs.
- Water lawns and plants separately. Established shrubs and trees need less water than grass.
- Consider drought resistant plants. You can also train plants to be less reliant on irrigation and more resistant to drought by reducing or eliminating irrigation.
Irrigation System Savvy
- When your system is on, make sure all the sprinkler heads are working properly and putting water where it should go. Adjust and fix where necessary.
- Check every month for broken sprinkler heads and leaks.
- Adjust timers based on the weather and check controllers weekly.
Install Water Conserving Devices
- Small and easy fixes such as faucet aerators, toilet fill cycle diverters, and high-efficiency showerheads can save water — and save you money from day one.
- Hot water recirculation pumps recirculating the water back to the hot water heater and will eliminate discharging the water down the drain while waiting for the hot water to arrive to replace the water that has lost the ”hot” sitting in the pipes. Pumps can be easily installed and can run automatically and on a timer. The longer the pipe run the more water is wasted.
Finally, remember that any water use must be paid for and by applying these few simple water conservation guidelines you could possibly save on your monthly water bill and you also would do your part in conserving water!
For additional information about water conservation, visit The Regional Water Providers Consortium website at www.regionalh2o.org.
