Dean Dickey
Published: May 9, 2008

Tomorrow marks the end of Drinking Water Week around the country. Every year, the Prince William County Service Authority calls attention to the occasion to remind our customers and the community to consider the tremendous value and necessity of one of life’s most precious resources.

Because this nationally-recognized occasion takes place each spring, it is also a convenient time of year to pause and consider an efficient water use plan for outdoor water use, particularly for lawn irrigation during the warmer months of the year.

The service authority encourages customers who regularly water their lawns to do so less frequently. One method for scheduling irrigation invites those who have odd addresses to water their lawns on Wednesdays and Saturdays while those with even addresses irrigate on Thursdays and Sundays. Some other tips for responsible lawn irrigation are:

• Cycle and soak. Water deeply, but infrequently to encourage deep-root growth that better withstands drought conditions.

• Use technology to control your system. Rain shut-off devices, soil moisture sensors can help you water more efficiently.

• Water lawns between the hours of 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. This reduces evaporation and avoids competition with household usage demands in the morning and afternoon.

• Irrigate only the green stuff. The driveway and sidewalk don’t need the water.

• Use drip irrigation or “soaker hoses” for plant/flower beds. They require only a fraction of the water the lawn needs to stay green.

• Mow high and in the evening. This practice reduces lawn stress.

• Fertilize in the fall, if at all. Fertilizing in the late spring and summer creates an extremely thirsty, high-maintenance lawn during the hot summer months.

• Plant native, drought-tolerant plants. Use an assortment of ground covers to limit the areas of water-dependent grass.

On average, Americans use 75 gallons of water per day; service authority customers use 94 gallons a day on average. The predominant share of that amount is a result of residential over-irrigation.

Many people water their lawn much more than necessary, but the service authority wants residents of Prince William County to know that, by making only a handful of changes in their lawn irrigation practices, they can have the lawns they want by irrigating more efficiently, rather than more abundantly.

Dean Dickey is the General Manager of the Prince William County Service Authority, which serves more than 76,000 accounts throughout the county.