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water Program

Water Saving Tips: Outdoors


Lawns and Gardens

  • To reduce evaporation, water your lawn during the cool parts of the day, like in the early morning or late evening, and don’t water the lawn on windy days.
  • Set up your sprinklers so they're not spraying the sidewalk or driveway make sure to turn them off on days when rain is expected, and get a rain sensor if you have automatic sprinklers.
  • Use a drip irrigation system instead of a hose or sprinkler to water your garden, and hand-water your lawn or garden instead of using sprinklers when possible - you'll cut your water use in half.
  • Set lawn mower blades one notch higher. Longer grass means less evaporation.
  • Direct the water drain line from your air conditioner to a flower bed, tree base or onto your lawn.
  • Better yet, use a rainwater collector (rainbarrel) to collect precipitation. You could save, on average, 4 gallons each day and you can use that water on your garden or houseplants.
  • Xeriscape! Plant native species that don’t require additional watering around your house. Grassy lawns make sense in wet climates, but in dry areas like the south and southwest they're huge water-wasters.

Swimming Pools and Summer Fun

  • Use a pool cover - you'll save a thousand gallons of water from evaporating each month.
  • Keep your pool water cool to reduce evaporation, and keep the water level low to reduce the amount of water lost to splashing.
  • Check your pool for leaks often, and if you find a leak get it fixed as soon as possible.
  • If your family wants to play with the hose or the sprinkler, make sure they do it in a dry part of the lawn that can use the water, and avoid buying water toys that require a constant stream of water.

Washing Your Car

  • Only give your business to car wash establishments that conserve and recycle their wash water.
  • Don’t leave the hose running when you wash your vehicle. Purchase a squeeze (pistol grip) nozzle for your hose so you don’t have to turn the tap to start and stop the flow.
  • Drive your car onto your lawn when you wash it by hand - you'll irrigate your lawn and get two jobs done at once!

Learn more about saving water in other areas of your home.

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