Your Irrigation System
How much water does your irrigation system use? Keep an eye on the watering schedule and check monthly for leaks.
Monthly Maintenance
Your in-ground irrigation system can account for 50 to 70 percent of your home water use.
Like your car, your irrigation system requires regular attention. Monthly monitoring can reduce your water usage and help you save money and avoid water waste citations. Proper scheduling can lower water use while maintaining a healthy garden.
Every month, use the two-minute test program to check for:
- broken and clogged heads
- misaligned heads
- long run-times and extra programs
- overspray onto sidewalks, streets and driveways (always illegal and can result in citations year round)
Don’t forget to turn off your irrigation system during rainy weather and the cold months.
Have an Older System?
If your system is 10 years or older, replace your irrigation components with modern, water-efficient components, such as:
- pressure-regulated spray heads and rotors
- stream rotators
- a rain sensor with rain delay
- a controller with a seasonal adjust feature
Irrigation Design Rebate
If your landscape is well established, consider exploring our cash Irrigation Design Rebate and make permanent changes to reduce the size of your system – you’ll save water and money!
Landscape Watering
Stage 3 Watering Rules in effect
When to Water
- Watering with a handheld hose is always allowed any time, any day.
- Year round rules allow watering with a sprinkler any day without runoff before 10 a.m. and after 9 p.m.
- To be sure you are always in compliance, set your irrigation system to Stage 1 or Stage 2 rules, so if things change while you’re away – you’re good to go!
- During Stage 1, you can water with a sprinkler one day a week based on the last digit of your street address as shown in the left column of the table. You may water from midnight – 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. – midnight on your watering day.
- During Stage 1, watering with drip irrigation is permitted Monday/Wednesday/Friday, but only midnight – 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. – midnight.
- During Stages 2 and 3, your day remains the same but you may only water from 5-10 a.m. and 9 – midnight.
- During Stages 2 and 3, drip irrigation is limited to Mondays and Fridays from 5 – 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. – midnight.
- You are never allowed to have runoff onto streets, parking lots and sidewalks as a result of irrigation.
- For additional drought rules, go to saws.org/WhenToWater.
| Last Digit of Address | Watering Day |
| 0 or 1 | Monday |
| 2 or 3 | Tuesday |
| 4 or 5 | Wednesday |
| 6 or 7 | Thursday |
| 8 or 9 | Friday |
| No watering on weekends |
Got Sprinklers?
Free Irrigation Consultations are available to homeowners with in-ground sprinkler systems. Our experts will check your system and make sure your controller settings match your landscape’s needs. You could also be eligible for an Irrigation Design Rebate.