Although summer is already underway, there are still ways to reduce irrigation use on your landscape and save both water and money.
With July and August reaching the highest temperatures of the year, it’s a time when residents’ landscapes need the most water. But, Heather Johnson, a water efficiency specialist at Parker Water and Sanitation District, said the summer also has the highest potential to conserve water.
“If we can learn how to irrigate efficiently without leaks, without broken heads or just wasting water, we can save a lot of water for homes,” said Johnson. “It also affects our pocketbooks.”
While the water district encourages conservation efforts, there is a difference between water efficiency efforts and conservation.
Conservation refers to measures that provide verifiable, permanent water savings or a reduction in the amount consumed. Efficiency focuses on reducing the amount of water waste and only using the minimum amount needed to accomplish a task.
Therefore, the Parker and Water Sanitation District, which serves customers within the Town of Parker and surrounding communities, offer programs and rebates for purchasing and installing irrigation products that use less water.
“These rebates are applied to your water bill,” Johnson said.
Customers can receive rebates for installing EPA WaterSense approved smart irrigation devices. One is a rotary nozzle head. Customers can receive a rebate of $5 per head, up to $100.
They can also receive a rebate of $50 for purchasing a rain sensor. The sensor is a controller that attaches to your house and connects to the irrigation box. When it rains, if a certain amount of rain is collected, it will send a signal to the irrigation controller to have it skip a cycle.
There is another $50 rebate for customers who purchase a smart irrigation controller. This controller is connected to weather data and adjusts the homeowner’s irrigation schedule based on real-time conditions.
“Depending on how you set it up, it will reduce your water use if it’s raining or if we’ve had low temperatures, and increases when we have extra high temperatures,” Johnson said.
Funds for these devices are given on a first-come-first-served basis, Johnson said, and the offer will close when the funds have been used for the calendar year.
Customers can sign up for the Irrigation Efficiency Rebate program at tinyurl.com/parker-irrigation-efficiency.
Additional water use programs
The water district has also partnered with Resource Central – a nonprofit based in Boulder that aims to save water, conserve energy and reduce waste – to offer discounts.
Customers can purchase a Garden in a Box at a $25 discount. These kits include designed gardens with drought-tolerant plants, trees, flowers and shrubs that thrive in Colorado’s environment and use less water.
“Resource Central does a really good job about planning the gardens out, so they take into account how the plants will look at different times of the season and what plants will look good together,” Johnson said.
Customers can also apply for the turf replacement program to remove a certain amount of grass from their landscape. However, to qualify, the grass must be healthy and has to be of high water use, such as Kentucky Bluegrass.
Johnson said one of the most beneficial programs is the free irrigation audits. A professional irrigation auditor will look at a customer’s irrigation system to see where and how water is coming out, how much is coming out and identify broken or misaligned nozzle heads.
In addition to telling the customer how to fix the problem, the auditors will give them a customized irrigation schedule based on how much water the irrigation head is producing.
“If you can find what’s wrong with your irrigation system and fix a leak, you’ll save a lot of water in the long run,” Johnson said.
To avoid runoff, the water district encourages customers to water in multiple, short cycles, and to only water before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m. instead of during the hottest part of the day.
“If you’re irrigating during that period of time, most of the water is lost to evaporation and it doesn’t actually soak into the ground,” Johnson said.
Learn about the different programs and rebate offers at pwsd.org/3367/Rebates.