Using and Conserving Water
OUTDOOR WATERING
There are currently no restrictions but we do ask that you follow these suggest water saving guidelines for outdoor use. Should drought conditions become sever, watering schedules may be implemented.
- Water turf between May 1 and October 31.
- Water no more than three days per week.
- Water between 8:00 pm and 8:00 am.
- Don't water when it is windy. After midnight tends to be calmer than early/late evening.
- Adjust your sprinkler clock for seasonal variations.
- Do not waste water by allowing spray on driveways/street or to pool in gutters and streets.
- Repair leaking sprinkler systems. Download our real-time water use monitoring app "eyeonwater" from the app store. This app can notify you of possible water leaks at your home.
- Add a rain gauge attachment to your sprinkler clock if possible and/or upgrade to a phone app based remote managed sprinkler clock and you can delay a watering cycle even if you are not home.
- Xeriscape if you can.
- Plant shade trees to give your turf a break from summer sun and heat.
- Cut grass at the highest setting.
- Mulch when you mow to create a buffer that slows evaporation.
- Avoid fertilizing during the hottest months, this can cause grass to burn and require more water initially.
- Set two cycles rather than one long cycle during the night to avoid run-off and allow water to better penetrate the ground.
- Water more deeply on fewer days to encourage roots to grow deeper. For example, short watering cycles daily encourage roots to stay nearer the surface and be less efficient for the turf plant.
REBATES FOR LOW FLOW FIXTURES
Water is a pressure resource in Colorado. The District provides rebates to customers that upgrade appliances and fixtures that include:
- High Efficiency Toilet (1.1 gallons per flush or less) $25 rebate, limit of three per residence.
- Rain Sensor $20 rebate, limit one per residence.
- Water Sense Certified smart irrigation controller $30 rebate, limit one per residence.
- Rotary/high-efficiency sprinkler nozzles $3 per sprinkler head limited to $150 rebate per residence. High-efficiency Washer $25 rebate, limit one per residence.
See this page at Denver Water for qualifying model information
To receive your rebate complete the Rebate Request From with the appropriate documentation and submit the request to the District office. Rebate may not exceed the price of the item purchased and you must include a copy of the item receipt in order to obtain this rebate..
HOW MUCH WATER DO PEOPLE USE INSIDE AND HOW?
While your individual usage by person varies, water use ranges from about 40 to 80 gallons per day (gpd). The chart to the left shows estimates of specific personal water use activities:
HOW MUCH WATER DO PEOPLE USE OUTSIDE (in the yard) AND HOW?
Sprinklers: The average sprinkler system for turf areas uses between 12 and 18 gallons per minute. Drip lines are usually much less, but not always! As you can see, this is a large variation. The best way to find out how much water your sprinkler system uses, and this use can vary widely by sprinkler zone, is to find your water meter and time the water used for a minute or two for each station. Then you can easily calculate your sprinkler system usage. This is often good information to have when setting your automatic system timer and avoid any “water bill shock” at the end of the month.
Garden hose: The output can vary depending upon the size of the hose. Some hoses are only ½” while others can be as large as ¾”. The best way to see how much water your garden hose supplies is to time how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket, with the water fully on and no spray nozzles attached. Then calculate the gallons per minute from that base amount. Note that results will be skewed if you don’t have the water fully turned on or if you have some type of spray nozzle attached. Also, the output from your garden hose will go down from the test above when you attach a nozzle or lawn sprinkler to it.
SMALL WATER LEAKS IN MY HOUSE…ARE THEY A BIG DEAL?
YES in several ways. While a small drip may end up costing only a few dollars per month, the impact of leaked/wasted water when multiplied by all homes and businesses to our stressed water supplies in the semi-arid Colorado climate is significant. Larger leaks and multiple dripping fixtures can really ad up by putting your usage into higher water and sewer use tier rates where dollar costs to you can become large. Small leaks in pipe connections can sometimes result in water seepage between walls and into basins resulting in cosmetic/structural damage and mold growth.
CAN I FIND WATER LEAKS IN MY HOUSE?
Use the phone app Eyeonwater. Download this app on your phone or PC from your app store to view your water usage by month, day and hour. The app can even provide leak email notifications.
Another way to check for leaks is to turn off all water using fixtures and appliances in your house. Find your water meter in your yard. Be careful to not damage any of the wires connected to the inner lid. Look at the clock dial for about a minute. If this dial moves forward during your observation, something in your house is probably leaking. If you detect a leak, then shutoff your main sprinkler supply valve. If the meter keeps showing use, the leak is probably inside the house, if it stops, the leak is probably in your sprinkler box or its main supply line.
If a toilet is leaking, you may not detect it by watching your meter. That's because toilets usually leak water slowly due to an aged brittle plunger valve inside the tank, then they run for a short period to re-fill the tank. If you hear your toilet running when it hasn't just been flushed, its leaking. Toilets are often a source of leaks that can be significant. An average of 20% of all toilets leak! If you are gone a lot or don't hear the toilet running, another way to check for a leak is to turn off the water supply valve at the base of the toilet. Look in the tank and mark the water level with a pencil. Keep the valve off and don’t use the toilet for 6-8 hours. Then after the shut-off period, look inside the tank – if the water level has dropped, then there is a leak. Caution: if the toilet water supply value is heavily corroded, seized and/or won’t turn easily, don’t use this method. Forcing the valve may result in the valve to leak around its housing – a leak you may be unable to stop without turning off the entire house water supply! A toilet supply valve in bad shape should be replaced so that it can be turned off without problems in the event of a future tank crack or other toilet malfunction where water could leak onto the floor. Toilet supply line valves are notorious for falling into this condition after many years. If you are nervous about turning off an old or seized toilet supply line valve, there is yet another way to see if your toilet is leaking by putting a non-staining dye into the tank when it is full. Do not use the toilet for 8-10 hours or overnight and see if any dye colored water has made its way into the toilet bowl. If the bowl water is colored, then you have a toilet plunger leak. Non-staining dye tablet are usually available at hardware stores. Food coloring can also work.
CAN I FIX A LEAKING TOILET MYSELF?
Yes in most cases. Replacement plungers generally cost between $5 and $15 and are available at all hardware stores. Remove the toilet tank lid, follow the instructions on the package. Most plungers simply require you disconnect the flushing mechanism chain, snap out the old plunger, snap in the new plunger and reconnect the flusher chain. Replacing tank plungers every few years is a good routine maintenance recommendation. Some newer low-water use toilets have different flushing systems that can be more complex to fix.
HOW MUCH WATER CAN AN EFFICIENT or LOW WATER USE TOILET SAVE?
Toilets can account for almost 30% of all indoor water use, more than any other fixture or appliance. Older toilets (installed prior to 1994) use 3.5 to 7 gallons of water per flush and as much as 20 gallons per person per day. Replacing an old toilet with a new model can save the typical household 7,900 to 21,700 gallons of water per year, cutting both your water and wastewater bills.
WHAT IS BACKFLOW and WHAT ARE BACKFLOW PREVENTERS?
Back flow devices, often called anti-siphon valves, are required on all properties served by the District that use potable water for irrigation to prevent lawn or heavy rain water from backing up into the water system.
