Sprinkler Repair in Orange County - Water Conservation Tips » Water Conservation

New Ways for Smart Landscape Watering Webinar

Luis Vasquez — Wed, 27 May 2009 07:11:44 +0000

Free Landscape Webinar!

The Irvine Ranch Water District is offering a FREE webinar on Saturday May 30th entitled New Ways for Smart Landscape Watering. Learn simple, practical tips that will help you water your landscape more efficiently and save money on your water bills. Enjoy the webinar from the comfort of your own home via the internet. Join water conservation and landscape experts for an informative, interactive session. Seminar topics will include:

5 easy steps to tune up your irrigation system
3 “must-use” features of your timer
Simple ways to manage your landscaping
Q&A with our experts

Two sessions are available, 8:00 am and 10:00 am. To register follow this link: IRWD Webinar Registration.

Using an Irrigation Controller for Water Conservation

Luis Vasquez — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:51:39 +0000

Here’s an interesting video by Alison Jordan from the City of Santa Barbara Conservation Program. Alison provides some great tips on how to divide your scheduling into different programs on your irrigation controller to separate high use plant material from more drought tolerant plants. A controller with multiple programs is required.

Using an Irrigation Controller for Water Conservation Tips — powered by eHow.com

Turf is usually the highest user of water. Separating turf areas onto a program by itself can save a considerable amount of water in the non-turf areas. Take advantage of all the features on your controller such as budgeting, cycle and soak, and multiple programs. We’ll go into greater detail in future posts, but this video is a great introduction.

Top 10 Water Conservation Tips

Luis Vasquez — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:42:45 +0000

Beginning June 1st, the city of Los Angeles has imposed water conservation measures on it’s residents. They will only be able to water their landscapes on Mondays and Thursdays. The city is also imposing higher rates when households exceed their allotment of water in an effort to cut back usage by 15% (if you’re interested in more information, check out the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s website). With the entire state of California in a drought, it’s possible that we could see the same restrictions spread to surrounding areas including Orange County.

Did you know that as much as 50% of your water usage occurs outdoors? That’s significant! By applying some or all of the following tips you can reduce the amount of water your household uses dramatically. Here’s my tips in no particular order:

Add mulch to planter beds. Mulch helps to retain moisture and can reduce watering requirements.
Aerate turf areas. Aerating can improve drainage and reduce compaction which will help the soil absorb water better and reduce runoff.
Maintain your irrigation system. Broken heads and lines can be a major source of wasted water.
Adjust controllers often. Adjust your controllers often to compensate for changes in the weather.
Install smart controllers. Today’s higher end controllers have many water saving features including the ability to add rain shut offs, moisture sensors, and ET sensors.
Reduce turf areas. Turf is one of the highest users of water. Reducing the amount of turf in the landscape will in turn reduce your water consumption.
Use plants with low water requirements. Use plants that are adapted to the area and require less water in your landscapes.
Install low-volume type irrigation systems. Use drip irrigation or bubblers where possible.
Retrofit existing spray-head nozzles with new multi-stream rotor nozzles. Nozzles such as the MP Rotator use up to 30% less water and irrigate more evenly.
Water early in the morning. Watering earlier in the morning helps to reduce evaporation.