Diving Into Water - part eleven: the ongoing saga

When to water

The author’s fancy sprinkler system. How about those authentic Shabby Chic distressed rust spots on the sprinkler head? (Is that gasps of jealousy? I get it, it’s pretty special )

I hear there’s a new-fangled way to water that involves underground pipes and some sort of timer. Apparently, owners can set this timer to turn the water on while continuing to dream about puppies, rainbows, and chocolate, with no thought that they have to go out and drag a hose with a sprinkler head to another part of the yard every ten minutes. Since my house was moved from Louisville to its current location in the 1940s I don’t have one of these here extra fancy setups. But if you do here’s some info from the city.

THE ONGOING WATER SAGA

SUMMER WATER USAGE

If you’re a recent subscriber, welcome! I’ve been writing a series of water reports to try and make this complex subject more understandable.

If you’ve been following along you might recall in part six I wrote about our aging water treatment plant and the need for it to run at full capacity during the summer. As I explained while we think about the need to treat the water that comes out of the indoor faucets the water that comes from the outdoor faucets is also treated. It all flows through our water treatment plant.

WATER RESTRICTIONS

Our year-round watering restrictions are any three days a week, avoiding the time between 10 am and 6 pm.

Unless we wear a miner’s helmet with a bright light those of us without a sprinkler system tend to water when we can actually see to walk around. Those folks with one of the timer thingies have more flexibility and that’s where the new issue sits.

TOO MANY PEOPLE HAVE PICKED THE SAME DAYS AND TIMES!

City staff say that while residents are “using good watering habits” so many people have selected Monday, Wednesday, and Friday between 3 am and 6 am to set their timers that it’s exceeding the water treatment capacity of the plant which can cause wear and tear on the system. Residents are asked to consider changing their watering schedules so the demand is not concentrated on the same days and times.

And that’s your latest update!

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