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Resources & Tips

Helpful Water-Saving Tips

Learn more about various water-saving tips. Continue to visit our website for updates and new helpful posts.

More tips can be found on the menu to the left such as water-saving tips, landscape, and student resources.

Tree Care Tips During Drought
Learn More About Leaks
Irrigation – time for a tune-up!
Tricks for a Healthy Landscape
Check Before You Water

Tree Care Tips During Drought

In the Sacramento region, most of the water we use daily goes on lawns and landscaping, and about 30 percent of that is lost due to overwatering and evaporation.

There are lots of ways to save water at home, but conserving water outdoors can make the biggest difference of all.

Stress your lawn and save your trees

Reduce each sprinkler cycle by two minutes—saves 80 gallons per day, assuming five stations watering three times weekly.

By reducing your watering times by two minutes across the board you can achieve an instant water savings of 20 percent (for every 10 minutes that are currently scheduled).
That’s at least 80 gallons every time you turn on the sprinklers. If you irrigate twice a week, that can add up to 8,320 a year in water savings.

Save your trees

As you limit landscape watering, take steps to protect your trees.
Trees offer many benefits to people and wildlife, and are an investment one generation makes for the next.
Lawn can turn golden and eventually recover. Trees, however, can be lost forever.
You’ll want to provide trees with extra water. You can do this with a soaker hose, or there’s the bucket method for young trees:
- Take a five-gallon bucket, and drill an 1/8th-inch hole on the side, about an inch from the bottom.
- Cover the hole with tape and fill the bucket with water.
- Place the bucket within a foot of the trunk, and remove the tape.
- Young trees need two to three (10-15 gallons) of extra water per week.

Tree watering tips and resources for both young and mature trees are available at:

be water smart.info
Tips for Tree Care During Drought (PDF)
Help Your Trees Survive the Drought (PDF)

Learn More About Leaks

About Household Leaks

Leaks are more common than most people think: According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 10 percent of homes have leaks that can waste 90 gallons or more per day—enough to fill 1,440 glasses of water.

Household leaks not only can waste a tremendous amount of water, they also can damage your home and garden.
If you have an unusual spike in your water bill, your home could have a leak.

A leaking or running toilet is the most common type of leak found inside your home followed by dripping faucets and showerheads.

Outdoor leaks can be easy to miss but shouldn’t be ignored because the water wasted can be significant.

Common Leaks

Inside Your Home

Leaking toilet

This is the most common type of leak found inside the home and can waste 200 gallons of water per day. That’s enough to wash seven loads of laundry every day for a month.
Chances are if you can hear your toilet running you have an issue. But, confirming a leak is simple: Add a little food coloring or a dye tab to the tank and wait about 15 minutes. If there is colored water in the bowl, you have a leak.
The cause is often a worn out toilet flapper, which can break down over time.
Turn off the water to your toilet and replace your old flapper with the same or a universal model, typically found at a home improvement store.

Dripping faucets and showerheads

Dripping faucets and showerheads are among the easiest leaks to spot.
While it may be tempting to ignore the problem, remember that those little drips can add up quick:
- A faucet leaking one drip per second can waste nearly 58 gallons per week—enough to wash nearly 15 loads of dishes in your dishwasher.
- A showerhead leaking 10 drips per minute can waste nearly 10 gallons per week—enough for over 150 glasses of water.
Faucet and showerhead leaks are typically caused by worn-out washers or loose connections.
Turn off the water to the problem area, check washers for wear and replace them if necessary. Be sure to create a tight connection using pipe tape and a wrench, if needed.

In Your Garden

Leaky sprinkler system

Outdoor leaks can be easy to miss but shouldn’t be ignored because the water wasted can be significant.
A small leak in your sprinkler system can waste about 6,300 gallons of water per month—enough for over seven loads of laundry every day for a month.
The most common outdoor leaks are caused by:
- Broken or loose pipes under your lawn or garden
- Broken sprinkler heads
- Loose connection between your garden hose and spigot
When tending to your lawn or garden, keep an eye out for usual wet or soft spots that can indicate a broken pipe or loose connection.
Check your sprinklers once a month and replace any broken nozzles.
Regularly check and tighten your garden hose’s connection to the spigot using pipe tape and a wrench, if needed.

Other Important Tips

When you find a leak, be sure to turn off the water until the problem can be fixed.
If you decide to replace a leaking or broken fixture, be sure to look for the WaterSense label when purchasing a new one. WaterSense-labeled products are third-party certified to be 20 percent more efficient than non-labeled fixtures without sacrificing performance.
If you suspect your home has a leak but can’t find it, your water provider may be able to help. Many offer complimentary Water Wise House Calls during which a trained water efficiency professional will visit your home and show you how to check for leaks.
Not sure what to do? When in doubt, hire a professional plumber to fix your leaky fixtures.
You can find more resources and links to “how to” videos for finding and fixing leaks at BeWaterSmart.info.

Irrigation – time for a tune-up!

Are you wasting water in your sleep? You could be – if your landscape irrigation needs a tune-up.

Upgrade sprinkler nozzles

One of the easiest ways to have a healthier yard is by replacing traditional sprinklers with high-efficiency rotator sprinklers. While the word “rotator” might sound like an old-fashioned rotary phone, these sprinklers actually use the latest technology to deliver water to your lawn and plants, improving your sprinkler system’s efficiency by 30 percent. That is important, since most household water, use occurs in our landscapes, and that is where we can make the biggest difference in our overall water use.

Unlike older sprinklers, which shoot high, fine sprays into the air, high-efficiency rotator sprinklers deliver multiple streams of water at a slower rate that is more easily absorbed by soil, reducing evaporation and run off. They also provide better coverage, which can eliminate brown spots, and have a stronger stream of water, which is able to reach taller plants.

Installing rotators is an easy do-it-yourself task that does not require an entire system to be replaced.

Carmichael Water District offers programs for high efficiency sprinkler head replacement and a smart irrigation controller rebate.

Tricks for a Healthy Landscape

Check the soil: First use a moisture meter or good old eight-inch screwdriver to see if your yard needs water. If meter says it’s moist or the screwdriver easily goes into the soil, you can skip running the sprinklers.
Inspect your sprinklers: Check your sprinklers on a regular basis for problems like clogged and broken heads or ones that misdirected and spraying the sidewalk or your car instead of your yard.
Water in the morning: After you’ve checked to see if you need to water, set your sprinklers to run in the early morning. The temperatures are lower, slowing evaporation so less water is lost and more gets to your plants.
Use the cycle and soak method: Cycle and soak is a process of running your sprinklers in shorter increments spaced out over a period of time to allow for better absorption by the soil. For example, if your’re running your sprinklers for eight minutes, break the watering cycle into two increments of four minutes, spaced an hour apart. This allows the water to better permeate through the soil and get to where it’s needed.

To keep up to date on tips, continue to visit our website carmichaelwd.org for updates or visit bewatersmart.info.

Check Before You Water

Trying to figure out how much water your yard needs can be a mystery. You might think you can tell just by looking at your plants or by the weather reports, but the best and most accurate way is to check the soil’s moisture level. It’s easy to do and doesn’t require a lot of time.

Here are some ways to check:

Use a moisture meter. This is the most effective way to tell if you need to water your yard. Moisture meters feature an easy-to-read dial that indicates if the soil is dry, moist or wet. Simply push the moisture meter into the soil six to eight inches deep and check the reading. Make sure to check a few different spots in your yard and your potted plants as well; and then water accordingly.
Do the screwdriver test. Stick an eight-inch screwdriver into the soil. If you can push it in more than three inches below the surface, you don’t need to water.
Dig down six to eight inches with a small shovel or trowel and grab a handful of soil. Roll the soil around in the palm of your hand. If the soil easily forms a ball in your hand, you don’t need to water.

Properly watering your landscape will not only help you use water wisely, it will also keep your plants healthier. They’ll get the right amount of water they need and you’ll make sure every drop counts.