Loudoun Water Sets New Rates to Encourage Water Conservation

You may have noticed in your recent bill, that Loudoun Water has set new Water Rates.  You are awarded with less expensive rates if you conserve water. 

The rate schedule is as follows:

Level	Quarterly Consumption (gallons)	Rate per 1000 gallons
Tier 1	0-25,000	$1.77
Tier 2	26,000 – 50,000	$4.96
Tier 3	Over 50,000	$6.65

The Tier 1 rate is less than their cost to deliver the water, therefore, you save money if you use less.  Tier 2 is in line with your home’s allocation, so you pay just what it costs to deliver it to you.  Usage at this Tier 3 is more than your home’s allocation, so you will pay a premium for creating the additional demand on the system.

So how do you reduce your water consumption?  Probably the easiest thing to do which provides the greatest savings is to reduce your lawn watering.  Loudoun Water states that they’ve seen evidence of overwatering as high as 60 percent.

While automatic sprinkler systems are convenient, generally it follows a schedule that has very little to do with your lawn’s actual watering needs.  Probably the most important thing you can do is cancel the next watering if it has rained.  We receive rain here in Virginia all summer long, and often it is enough to keep your grass green.  Consider installing a rain shut-off device on your automatic sprinklers to eliminate unnecessary watering.

Also, Loudoun Water has requested that customers use the following schedule to help them manage the overall water demand.

ODD Addresses: Wednesdays and Saturdays
EVEN Addresses: Thursday and Sundays

Additionally, please do not water on your mowing day.

You can tell if your lawn needs watering by simply walking across your lawn. If you leave footprints, it's time to water.  You can test how much water your irrigation system is using by putting out a tuna can and measuring it.

Also, Brad Amico of Toll Landscaping has offered this advice on when to water your lawn:

Most lawns in Northern Virginia will need from 1 - 1.5 inches of water per week depending on the weather, soil type, slope, etc. It is best to apply this amount of water in a single thorough soaking in two equal applications of water three to four days apart, rather than in light watering everyday. 

Daily, light watering promotes shallow rooting, non-drought tolerant turf, and encourages crabgrass. The ideal time to irrigate a lawn is from 4:00 am - 8:00 am. Watering during the evenings, although more convenient to the homeowner is not recommended either, due to the potential problem of inviting a greater incidence of disease in the turf.

Over watering is the main contributor to damage caused by normal use, mowers and other machines used in caring for your turf. It is very easy to over water a turf area and the potential side effects of over watering include increased crabgrass presence, increased disease potential, shallow rooting and higher water usage that ultimately could lead to water restrictions. This shallow rooting also makes turf less drought tolerant.

- contributed by Katie Ayres, Belmont Web Committee Chair