Water Wise Denton

On Friday 6/14 we had our highest customer demand, of 25.6 million gallons of water. Fridays are a non-irrigation day. Please work with us by following the city-wide irrigation schedule. It is not abnormal for us to continue to break demand records around this time of year, but having the record broken on a Friday means we may need your help in getting the work out about our irrigation schedule. With the partnership of our conservation minded residents, we can continue to preserve supplies for the future! Thank you!

Yesterday Denton used over 24 Million Gallons of Water! This is our first time in 2024 to break 24 million. As temperatures increase, water usage increases as well. So while it is not unexpected that we have hit an annual milestone, this milestone should be something we consider. What water wise habits can we implement? Some simple solutions can be:

1. Do not use you toilet as a trash can! We will save you the gory details of the items that make their way to the wastewater treatment plant.... but we do want to stress please, please throw trash in the trash. Wasting water to flush trash is just that, a waste.

2. Use a broom, not the hose, to sweep off porches.

3. Got the gardening bug? Plant natives and avoid water hungry species of plants that do not thrive here.

4. Do not order a water you dont intend to drink. It used to be customary to order a water with your soft drink/ tea, etc.. at restaurants. These waters often get discarded, still full. Skip the water you don't intend to drink.

5. Speak up when you see broken sprinklers. Do you have a neighbor with a sprinkler turned geyser? Odds are they don't know, this is a good opportunity to let them now they have a busted sprinkler head. If you are not comfortable talking to your neighbor, you can reach out to us at https://dentontx.citysourced.com/ and we can send someone to inform your neighbor. This information will not be a citation, just a friendly heads up on an issue they likely are not aware of.

We have been fortunate to have great conversations with our residents surrounding our new irrigation schedules. One of the best parts of having our residents reach out to us, is getting to answer questions we did not anticipate. We would like to share some of the FAQs that have come out of our conversations:

I only water once a week, why is the city forcing me to water more?

We are not asking residents to water twice a week, the schedule indicates which days irrigation is allowed to take place for a particular address. Residents are free to irrigate up to twice a week on their assigned days, but there is no obligation to water on these days.

I have a smarts sensor for my irrigation system and because of that I should not have to follow the irrigation schedule.

We are working to spread out/ normalize usage peaks. During the winter (non-irrigation months) we typically see 20 million gallons a day demand from the system. During the summer months we exceed 40 million gallons at intermittent spike intervals. These spikes mean that we must pay for upsizing our adequate infrastructure which still has much usage life, to accommodate a few demand spikes. The cost of doing so gets passed on to our ratepayers. By abiding by the irrigation schedule, you are helping to ensure that the smart controller irrigation community does not cause a spike on a particular day.

I invested in an advanced irrigation sensor and now its useless to me.

Smart Sensors are designed to accommodate irrigation schedules. You can program your days into your system, and the system will skip any pre-programmed day that occurs at a time when the ground is saturated, then automatically pick back up at the next pre-programmed day.

This schedule does not work for my routine, you will need to give me an exemption.

There are few things more frustrating than settling into a good routine, only to have it shaken up for reasons beyond your control. This is why we have implemented a grace period, to allow for sufficient time to change and become accustomed to the new routine. Thank you for working with us to conserve!

Do you have any other questions that we can answer? Please reach out in the question section below, or email conservewater@cityofdenton.com.

Friendly reminder it is now June, and our annual summer watering ordinance is now in effect.

Watering is prohibited between the hours of 10am and 6pm from June 1st - September 30th.

There have been some questions related to the way the new twice a week irrigation schedule works with the annual summer watering ordinance. If it is your irrigation day based on the irrigation schedule, you may water from 12:01 am - 9:59 am, stop watering by 10 am, then you may resume from 6:00 pm - 11:59 pm.

The twice a week watering schedule is alway in effect, whereas the summer watering ordinance is designed to eliminate evaporative water waste, and is only in effect for the hottest periods of the year.

Did you know on Monday we received 2.84" of rain? This was the largest amount of rain received in a day this year.

That same day, we used 23.4 Million Gallons of Water - which is in the top 3 highest demand days for the year. These two pieces of information suggest that automatic watering was taking place. This means sprinklers were set to run on certain days, and were not adjusted for rainfall.

While we always ask to be aware of your sprinkler system and to water only when necessary and according to your assigned watering days, there are steps that you can take to ensure that your sprinklers are not running when its raining or when the ground is already saturated. Rain sensors can be retrofitted to existing sprinkler systems. If enough rain has fallen, then the sensors let the timer know to skip the next cycle and not run. It's a convenient piece of technology. If you're out of town or just unaware of the weather forecast, the rain sensor will make sure your lawn isn't overwatered. Rain sensors are not cost prohibitive, and some are available for as little as 10$.

Yesterday we hit out highest demand day, at 23.9 Million Gallons, compared to yesterday which was out highest usage day at 23.2 Million Gallons.

While we saw an increase of 700,000 gallons of water used, it can be normal to see an upward trend as summer heat arrives.

The good news is that with the new summer watering schedule based on address, we should see less dramatic spikes in usages this summer. Please remember to water on your assigned days only.

Yesterday we hit our highest level of water demand in 2024 - which was 23.2 Million Gallons!

Unlike last year, this year we are heading into summer with both of our lakes, Ray Roberts and Lewisville, at 100% capacity. When lake levels are full, it is the perfect time to conserve - because there is water to be saved.

Now is a perfect time to check your sprinklers for leaks, add mulch to your garden, consider areas is your yard where you could be replacing turf with beautiful native plants.

Conservation is not limited to outdoor usage - you can make a big difference by only running your dishwasher when it is full, and taking shorter showers (aim for under 5 minutes).

A Dripping Faucet Wastes 3,000 Gallons!!!!

Believe it or not a dripping faucet wastes 3,000 gallons of water a year! Fixing even one leaky faucet can save a lot. Did you know a stuck toilet flapper can waste around 200 gallons per hour? Find more resources to help fix-a-leak.

• Old washers cause common faucet leaks and may be an easy fix. Or your faucet cartridge needs to be changed.
• Toilet leaks from worn-out flappers can cause major water loss and high bills. Learn how to replace a leaky toilet flapper.
• Leaks occur outdoors as well. Learn how to fix a leaky hose bib.
• Running sprinklers at night is recommended but issues are not easily seen. Be sure to inspect your sprinklers once a month and make sure everything is working correctly. Watch this DIY Sprinkler Repair presentation for an in-depth learning opportunity.

Last Saturday in advance of the rain we saw a significant amount of water used for irrigation. The best way to preserve our water is to save it when we have it.

We would like to remind our residents that we have implemented a city-wide irrigation schedule. Your lawn and garden only needs 1" of water per week. This water is best delivered slowly, in one or two watering sessions a week, so that the water may soak deep into the soil. When lawns and gardens are over-watered, shallow roots develop, which make it challenging for your plants to thrive when the summer heat arrives.

Thank you for adhering to the schedule (above) and helping us preserve our water resources.

Creating a Texas SmartScape comes with a bounty of benefits:

Lower water bills.

Typically native plants require 80 percent less water than non-native species. And once established they can survive on natural rainfall, without any help from us.

Disease-resistant plants

Native plants reduce the need for pesticides and fertilizers. Decreasing our dependence on lawn care products keeps harmful chemicals from washing into our waterways during a downpour. That means a cleaner environment for all of us to enjoy.

Lower maintenance.

Save yourself some time on yardwork.

A diverse habitat.

Urbanization has reduced the variety of plants in our landscapes. SmartScape settings can help bring urban landscapes back to life. They offer diverse sources of food and provide a desirable sanctuary for songbirds, butterflies, and other Texas wildlife.

A fun project for the whole family.

Kids are natural-born diggers who can really appreciate the hands-on opportunity of a gardening facelift.

Different plants need different amounts of water, sun, and shade to survive.

Remember to group plants according to their light and watering needs. Creating water zones with plants that have similar water requirements will help you cut back on water waste.

Don’t forget to add mulch to landscape beds to help conserve water in the soil. Learn more about Texas native and adapted plants at North Central Texas SmartScape.

For free DIY informative brochures, click here: https://waterisawesome.com/articles/do-it-yourself-brochures