Know What Outdoor Watering is Costing You
Warmer weather sometimes brings us higher water bills due to increased usage from irrigating our lawns or other outdoor activities. You can figure out how much it is costing by following these steps listed in order:
- Turn on spigot, sprinkler or a sprinkler station*
- With a stopwatch, time how much water is being used at the meter for 1 minute.
- Multiply the number of minutes water is used by gallons per minute (results from above step)
- Divide gallons per minute by 1000 (example: 500 gallons = .5 units)
- Multiply units by rate tier:
First 0-10,000 gallons $4.25 per thousand gallons
Next 10,001 – 20,000 gallons $4.50 per thousand gallons
Next 20,001 – 30,000 gallons $4.75 per thousand gallons
Next 30,001 – 40,000 gallons $5.00 per thousand gallons
Next 40,001 & above $5.25 per thousand gallons
*each individual station will need to be timed for automatic sprinkler systems.
Sprinkler System Example
Station # gpm Minutes Watered Gallons per Station
1 12 30 360
2 11 30 330
3 14 35 490
4 12 15 180
5 15 20 300
6 5 10 50
1710 Gallons
Total gallons 1710/1000 = 1.71
***FYI*** Watering a ½ acre with 1 inch of water 4 times a month consumes approximately 54,305 gallons.
