Say yes to more and say yes to less!
Keeping our water clean, healthy, and available is a full-time job for anyone who uses water. Right now is the best time to assess any gaps in your water-saving activities.
Say YES TO MORE
Start by saying YES TO MORE when you only run the dishwasher when it’s full. Same goes for washing your clothes. YES TO MORE cold water washes that conserve energy while being gentler on clothes. Time to upgrade your washing machine? Select one that is smart enough match the amount of water to the load size.
Say YES TO LESS
Fall is a time for less: less fertilizer on the lawn. Our St Augustine grass won’t be able to take up many nutrients, especially nitrogen, once it enters dormancy (mid October – mid April). Adding fertilizer after the first of October won’t help the grass, and it’s more likely those fertilizers will simply run off into waterways during the next rain.
Speaking of rain, does your sprinkler system controller have a rain sensor? The next few months are forecasted to bring strong chances of large rain events. A rain sensor helps you say YES TO LESS irrigation by communicating with your sprinkler system that your lawn has received adequate rainfall and overrides a scheduled watering. Again, your lawn is dormant from mid-October to mid-April and requires not only less fertilizer, but less water too.
Consider yourself a bit of a DIYer? Installing a rain sensor is pretty simple and we’ll help you get started. Send an email to enviro@thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov with the subject line: Rain Sensor Request.
The first 10 Township residents to email will receive a free rain sensor.
Just provide your home address so we can verify residency. We’ll be in touch with details on where to pick up your rain sensor and help with any troubleshooting.
Ready to say YES TO MORE AND YES TO LESS? Think about other simple ways your actions can reduce water use. Each YES means we have the water we need in the future.
For questions about water use, visit our Water Conservation webpage.
Free rain sensor?
In the Woodlands, these big, short rain events do not wet the very compact clays that were laid down by developers to direct drainage and safeguard foundations. The vast amount of rain just runs off. It takes days and weeks of rain to wet these clays beyond a few inches. To some degree, this makes standard rain sensors of little use. Are there “smarter” sensors?
Hi Augusta, I’ve asked our Water Specialist for her thoughts. Hope this helps. “Typically, after 10-15 minutes’ rain, the top soil layer begins to absorb the rain. It’s true it takes clay a little longer but in a good rain event you’ll still get absorption. At this time of year, our grass is already heading into dormancy and requires half, or less, of the summer amount of irrigation. There certainly are smarter controllers with more sophisticated rain sensors, but any rain sensor is better than none at all. Thanks for the remarks and question!”