The Aquarion Water Company has announced the start of the 2022 mandatory sprinkler irrigation schedule for its customers in East Granby, Granby and Simsbury. The schedule helps to conserve water supplies by reducing overwatering of lawns and gardens. The conservation program, limiting irrigation to a schedule of two days per week, helps to ensure local water supplies remain sufficient for critical needs such as human consumption and fire protection.
Since its launch in 2017, the sprinkler irrigation schedule has contributed to more than two billion gallons of water being saved, helping towns avoid a complete ban on outdoor water use during dry summer months. Under the irrigation schedule, Aquarion expects to save millions of gallons of water this year.
Homes and businesses with automatic sprinkler irrigation systems often use large volumes of water – about 40 percent more than properties without the systems. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other experts identify the overuse of outdoor irrigation as a major source of strain on local water supplies while providing no benefit to lawns and gardens.
Research shows that lawns and gardens can thrive on reduced watering. By encouraging roots to grow deeper into the soil, they’re able to absorb more moisture and nutrients, even during dry spells. Customers may continue to water by hand, use drip irrigation and soaker hoses at any time.
The permanent, twice-weekly irrigation schedule is in effect as follows:
Aquarian customers with an even-numbered address (last digit 0, 2, 4, 6, 8) may water on Sundays and Wednesdays between 12:01 and 10 a.m. OR between 6 and 12 p.m.
Aquarian customers with an odd-numbered address (last digit 1, 3, 5, 7, 9) may water on Saturdays and Tuesdays between 12:01 and 10 a.m. OR between 6 and 12 p.m.
Aquarian customers with no address number may water on Sundays and Wednesdays between 12:01 and 10 a.m. OR between 6 and 12 p.m.
More information about the irrigation schedule, as well as information about landscaping and gardening with less water, is available at aquarionwater.com/conserve Some residents may qualify for a variance from the schedule. If customers, for example, have installed new plantings or sod in the spring, they would be allowed to water more frequently to help get plants established.