DWP Issues New Lawn Watering Rules

Category: City News
Published on Saturday, 24 July 2010 12:51
Written by Submitted by Wendy Fratecelli

Residents would be able to turn on their sprinklers three days a week -- as opposed to just two days -- under a new water rationing schedule approved today by the LA Board of Water and Power Commissioners.

The City Council still has to sign off on the plan before it can be implemented.  Because of the extended drought, DWP customers are currently only allowed to irrigate their lawns for up to 15 minutes each Monday and Thursday, before 9 a.m. or after 4 p.m.

 

Under the amended ordinance approved by the board today, odd-numbered addresses would irrigate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and even-numbered addresses on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Also, residents would be able to turn on "non-conserving nozzles," such as sprinklers and bubblers, for up to eight minutes a day, or 24 minutes a week. "Conserving nozzles," such as multi-stream rotary heads, could be turned on twice a day for up to 15 minutes each time, for a total of 90 minutes a week.

Last summer, the DWP reported 101 water main breaks from July through September -- double the usual number for that time period. A team of experts concluded the two-days-a-week rationing schedule created drastic changes in water pressure that put stress on corroded cast-iron pipes and caused them to break, leading to severe flooding in several areas of the city.

http://www.scpr.org/blogs/hettie-lynne-hurtes/2010/07/22/new-water-rationing-schedule-l-residents/?