As you’re starting up your irrigation system for summer, help fix a big leak! There are few things quite as annoying or more wasteful or costly than an irrigation system that runs when it doesn’t have to… in the rain. Rain sensors turn off your irrigation when it rains, saving you water and money.
Do You Know…
- According to landscape professionals, over-watering is the most common problem in the home landscape
- Irrigating may cost you more than you know, not just in wasted water, but in overwatered and unhealthy plants
- Installing a rain sensor can reduce your seasonal utdoor water use by 5% or more
Irrigation System Check List
- Check the system for leaks
- Add mulch in planting beds
- Install a rain sensor from the Cascade Water Alliance
Summer offers many opportunities to conserve water! Here are six water conservation tips you can use at home:
- Check your sprinkler systems and keep them maintained. Check the direction sprinklers are pointing – avoid watering concrete driveways and sidewalks where water runs off.
- Wash your car at a commercial car wash or on your lawn to keep pollutants out of local streams and lakes.
- Be a weather watcher and don’t water when it’s raining. Check irrigation system cycles to match actual landscape needs.
- Consider upgrading your irrigation system. Use conservation controllers and rain sensors. Remember to check www.cascadewater.org for available rebates.
- Use a broom and not a hose to clean off sidewalks and driveways.
- Maintain and cover pools and hot tubs to minimize evaporation.
For more information about water conservation visit www.redmond.gov.
Assisted Living Community
Recognized for Major Water Savings
Water conservation is an important element of Cascade Water Alliance’s long term plan to provide its members with a safe, clean reliable water supply for the next 50 years and beyond. And Redmond’s Peters Creek Retirement and Assisted Living Community can claim credit for doing its part.
The retirement and assisted community, located at 14431 Redmond Way in Redmond has 65 residents. The facility has been in that location for 20 years. In 2008, Cascade Water Alliance provided the retirement home with 71 toilets, 67 handheld showerheads, 67 bathroom aerators and 45 kitchen aerators, all high efficiency.
The result? Regency at Peters Creek Retirement and Assisted Living Community’s water use has dropped by approximately 45 percent compared to its historic use, reports Cascade’s Mike Brent, Water Resources Manager.
“Regency at Peters Creek Retirement and Assisted Living Community is proud of its accomplishments and doing our part to save our valuable recourses,” adds Will Miller, the General Manager. “In addition, we thank Cascade and the City Of Redmond for supporting the kind of programs that allow us to be water efficient. And, not only is it efficient, our improvements are good for the bottom line.”
The City of Redmond maintains and secures the facilities and systems that with a safe, dependable quality and quantity of water both now and into the future. Redmond’s water supply includes five wells and more than 318 miles of water main and 10 reservoirs which provide and store water for a daytime population of more than 100,000 City of Redmond.
Redmond is a member of the Cascade Water Alliance, a non-profit corporation, comprised of the cities of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Issaquah and Tukwila, and Covington Water District, the Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District and Skyway Water and Sewer District to provide safe, clean and reliable water to its 370,000 residents and 22,000 businesses.
In Cascade’s first year of state-mandated reporting, significant progress has been made toward achieving its goals and conserving water resources. In compliance with state requirements, Cascade adopted its first Six-Year Conservation Savings Goal in 2008.
The first annual progress reports that Cascade achieved a savings of over 426,000 gallons of water per day, representing 42 percent of the 2008 – 2013 savings goal. All Cascade members are on track to meet their respective water conservation goals.
Conservation gains in the past year came from a variety of programs offered by Cascade. These include rebates for high efficiency toilets and clothes washers, faucet aerator and showerhead installations, irrigation system audits and upgrades and more. Cascade partners with many other water and energy providers to educate consumers and offer tools for the wise use of water.
Article reprinted with permission from the Cascade Water Alliance News (May 1)