35,360 gallons

[Blitzkrieg]

Damn, was hoping it was the meter, but at least now you know.

Yeah that's the bottom line, she (we) wanted to ensure that the reading was accurate.  I set the entire system to "off" for now with all of the rain we've had.  When it comes time to turn the sprinklers back on I'm going to go with Monday and Thursday, once a day for 10 minutes.  (the bad spots are looking good now so we don't need to water them as much)

 

[Spur's Addiction]

Yeah that's the bottom line, she (we) wanted to ensure that the reading was accurate.  I set the entire system to "off" for now with all of the rain we've had.  When it comes time to turn the sprinklers back on I'm going to go with Monday and Thursday, once a day for 10 minutes.  (the bad spots are looking good now so we don't need to water them as much)

Depending on what a fine from the HOA yard police is, might be cheaper then paying the increased water bill.

 

[gamecock88]

OK the water company came yesterday afternoon and checked the meter.  They attached a flow meter to the outside faucet, recorded the reading on the meter in the yard and ran 50 gallons through the front faucet.  We checked the meter in the yard and it was reading 50 gallons.  They repeated the process a second time and we got the same result.

Next we checked the irrigation system, they recorded the number on the meter in the yard and I turned on the sprinklers and let them run for 5 minutes.  Holy crap...102 gallons of water in 5 minutes!  I think we've found the problem.

When my mother got the notice from the HOA she had parts of the yard sodded (by her grandaughter's husband who does landscaping work) and he set the sprinklers to come on 7 days a week, twice a day for 20 minutes each session.  So the bottom line is apparently she did use that much water.  The water company employee said that she does this kind of check 2-3 times a week and the culprit is almost always the irrigation system.

That's what I thought it would be.  If she's on one meter and a sewer system as well, depending on where, the municipality bills for the waste too.  That's why many have a separate meter for irrigation purposes.  Heads can put down some water.  Suggest finding a better schedule.  7 days a week is too much unless she lives in a desert.   Probably every 2-3 days would work depending on how long each zone runs and current rainfall.  You can get a rain sensor or some units tie into wifi and local weather to make sure you're not watering when it rains.  Make sure you set it to run early early morning.  That way most of the water is absorbed into the soil vs evap.  If you set them to come on in the evening or at night there's a chance of mold and killing the grass.  Go for 5:00 AM. 

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Depending on what a fine from the HOA yard police is, might be cheaper then paying the increased water bill.

LOL...good point.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

That's what I thought it would be.  If she's on one meter and a sewer system as well, depending on where, the municipality bills for the waste too.  That's why many have a separate meter for irrigation purposes.  Heads can put down some water.  Suggest finding a better schedule.  7 days a week is too much unless she lives in a desert.   Probably every 2-3 days would work depending on how long each zone runs and current rainfall.  You can get a rain sensor or some units tie into wifi and local weather to make sure you're not watering when it rains.  Make sure you set it to run early early morning.  That way most of the water is absorbed into the soil vs evap.  If you set them to come on in the evening or at night there's a chance of mold and killing the grass.  Go for 5:00 AM. 

Thanks.

 

[STS]

FWIW...I was told at most to water my ward every other day for 10 minutes per zone one time daily unless we have a significant drought....I am assuming that your mother's yard is bermuda which is far more heat tolderant than mine (though I certainly have patches of bermuda  thanks to my neighbor lol)...I also changed out my heads a few years ago to a type that claims to use less water but distribute in a much better distribution pattern

 

[Blitzkrieg]

FWIW...I was told at most to water my ward every other day for 10 minutes per zone one time daily unless we have a significant drought....I am assuming that your mother's yard is bermuda which is far more heat tolderant than mine (though I certainly have patches of bermuda  thanks to my neighbor lol)...I also changed out my heads a few years ago to a type that claims to use less water but distribute in a much better distribution pattern

Thanks...I'll check into changing the heads.

 

[Spur's Addiction]

FWIW...I was told at most to water my ward every other day for 10 minutes per zone one time daily unless we have a significant drought....I am assuming that your mother's yard is bermuda which is far more heat tolderant than mine (though I certainly have patches of bermuda  thanks to my neighbor lol)...I also changed out my heads a few years ago to a type that claims to use less water but distribute in a much better distribution pattern

I have watered my yard a handful of times this year. And that was in the spring when we did not have as much rain. I don't think about watering until at least 1 week has gone by since the last good rain, and this summer we have been getting pretty regular thunderstorms.