Drought Tips and Best Ways to Conserve Water

  • Published
  • By Mary Lumsdon
  • 17th Civil Engineer Squadron
GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Summer is almost here, which equals our peak water use season and the time when using water wisely counts the most.

For many of us, a drought is hitting home. We hear about it every day in our newspapers and on television. Reducing water consumption in response to pleas from water officials is the "right thing" to do. But, aside from taking shorter showers and cutting back on lawn sprinkling, what else can we do?

Replace your old toilet, the largest water user inside your home. If your home was built before 1992 and the toilet has never been replaced, then it is very likely that you do not have a water efficient 1.6 gallon per flush toilet. You can check the date stamp inside the toilet by lifting the lid and looking at the back of the toilet at the manufacturer's imprint of the make, model and date of manufacture.

In recent years, much attention and controversy has surrounded the water requirement of the lawn. There are some well documented facts about the American lawn.

· The lawn is an integral component of the landscape. The lawn is certainly the best recreational surface for children and athletes.
· The lawn has a tremendous mitigating effect on the environment, reducing heat loads and noise, plus water and air pollution.
· A lawn is second only to a virgin forest in the ability to harvest water and recharge groundwater resources. And as a design component, the lawn provides landscape unity and simplicity while inviting participation in the landscape.

Make sure you water thoroughly and deeply at each watering, but allow the soil to dry out between irrigations (days between watering can reach 30 days or more for some desert plants). By watering this way, roots are encouraged to grow deep into the soil where they'll be better protected from the summer heat and dryness. Most Texas grasses only need 1" to 1.5" of water per week.

Here's how to measure the amount of water delivered.
· Set 3-5 empty cans at different distances from the sprinkler with the last can near the edge of the sprinkler coverage.
· Run the sprinkler for 30 minutes.
· Add the inches of water in all cans and divide the total inches by the number of cans to obtain an average.
· Multiply the average by two to determine how many inches of water are applied in an hour.

Maintain the sprinkler system.
· Sprinklers should be checked frequently since they are above ground and can easily get damaged or misdirected. Check the irrigation line from the valve to the spray heads for leaks. Replace spray heads if necessary, and be sure to replace with the proper spray head. Check that sprinkler heads are flush with the soil surface and straight, not tilted. Clear grass, plants and other obstructions that block sprinkler spray. Finally, adjust sprinkler heads so they don't spray walls, driveways, or sidewalks.
· For drip irrigation, turn on the system 20-30 minutes before the inspection to allow enough time for emitter wetting patterns to show. Check from the valve to the end of the irrigation line for leaks or clogged emitters. Check for proper emitter placement on plants as they grow. You may need to move emitters out to the drip line of the plant each season. Do this by purchasing some extra micro tubing and connectors.

Remember to turn off sprinklers when we receive a measurable amount of rain.
Weeds compete with landscape plants for water and nutrients. The best time to control weeds is before they gain a foothold in your landscape. Pulling weeds is your best strategy. However, there are weed control chemicals that can be applied to prevent weed seeds from germinating, or that can be applied to kill weeds after they're up and growing.

If weeds are already well established in the landscape, it might be best to remove them with a weeding tool or by hand. When they're close to maturity, chemical treatment is not as effective. When pulling established weeds, wait until after watering or rain for easier removal and a better chance to get the whole plant - roots and all.

While many weed seeds can be carried into your yard by the wind, birds, or other animals, make sure you don't seed your own crop. It's important to remove weeds in the landscape before they flower to prevent seeds from forming and reseeding. Weeds will also germinate when soils are disturbed. After your initial landscape installation, there will likely be weed problems for the first couple of years. After that, keep soil disturbance to a minimum, if possible.

For more water conservation tips, call (325) 654-5285.