Public Works Water Conservation Tips
Mandatory Year-Round Water Resctriction Rules.
In 1973 the Town of Apex recognized water as a valuable natural resource and adopted its first water conservation ordinance. As times changed, the Triangle grew and in 1986 Apex updated this ordinance to recognize water as a limited natural resource.
Recent advances in water saving devices like the low-flow showerheads and toilet tanks can use up to a third less water than devices installed just a few years ago. Required by current building code, these two advances save millions of gallons per year.
The Town of Apex wants to ensure that simple measures, like the two mentioned above, become common knowledge and common practice.
This page identifies several additional ideas of things you can do in the kitchen, the bathroom and the yard to help conserve water. Please, “help us help the environment and conserve water.”
Recycle plastic containers and water!
Did you know that most families use more water for flushing toilets than for any other household use, other than irrigation? New toilets use 1.6 gallons of water every time they are flushed. If you live in a house built before 1994, your toilet could use as much as 3-7 gallons of water per flush. You can greatly reduce your water usage by placing a plastic bottle full of water in your toilet tank. Don’t use bricks as they may crumble over time. Use a two-liter bottle and every time you flush you’ll be saving two liters of water. How many liters can you save over the course of a year?
Showers versus baths!
Showers equipped with low-flow shower heads use 2.75 gallons of water per minute. A 5 minute shower uses roughly 14 gallons of water while an average bath uses as much as 50 gallons. Older shower heads can have flow rates as high as 10 gallons per minute. Replacing old shower heads with low-flow ones could reduce your water use by 36 gallons for every 5 minute shower.
To conserve water in the bathroom in other ways:
- Don’t leave the water running while shaving or brushing teeth.
- If you hear running water in your toilet tank, adjust the leaky float or replace the faulty hardware.
- Don’t use your toilet as a trash can.
- Install faucet aerators.
Check every faucet for leaks.
Did you know a single dripping water faucet can waste more water in a single day than one person could drink in a week?
If your faucet is dripping at a rate of one drop per second, you could lose 2,700 gallons per year, which will add to the cost of your utility bill. Dripping faucets can usually be easily fixed by simply replacing washers.
If every homeowner ignores one dripping faucet it would cost the taxpayers $200,000 in wasted water.
Be conservative when washing dishes.
When washing dishes by hand, don’t leave the water running for rinsing. When using a dishwasher make sure it’s fully loaded before you turn it on. Don’t rinse dirty dishes before loading them into the dishwasher. Instead scrape or wipe the dishes and let the dishwasher do the rest.
Start a compost pile.
Garbage disposals require lots of water to operate properly. Compost food scraps outside in a compost pile. You can then use the compost to fertilize landscaping, which may help to reduce the need for watering plants.
The truth about irrigation.
Did you know that during the summer months, irrigation accounts for more than 60% of residential water use? This “Peak Demand” requires millions of dollars in infrastructure investment, including the current expansion of the Cary/Apex water treatment plant.
It’s estimated that for each gallon of capacity required, $4 of taxpayer monies must be invested in infrastructure. Please help us save you money by using water wisely. Following these simple guidelines saves you more than just a few dollars on your water bill.
Care for My Lawn
Most lawns in Apex are fescue, which grow well with about one-inch of water or rainfall a week. Over-watering your plants can cause excess water to move through the soil or run off. The best way to avoid over watering is simply to measure how much you are adding. You can measure water by placing shallow containers around your lawn or garden to collect the water from the sprinklers.
In summer, fescue naturally goes semi-dormant (tops brown) during extremes of hot and/or dry weather conditions; it can survive three weeks without water.
Fescue lawns will not tolerate close mowing. Mow high and often. Fescue should be cut no shorter than 2.5 inches high. The higher you cut, the deeper your root system will grow. Low cutting causes grass to develop a shallow root system which makes the grass less able to survive our hot dry summers. Unless grass has grown excessively tall, do not pick up grass clippings. The light layer of clippings will discourage weed germination, help preserve soil moisture, and return organic matter to the soil.
Signs of Over-Watering
If you have seen or continue to see any of the following, you are over-watering your landscaping.
- Soil is constantly damp.
- Leaves turn a lighter shade of green.
- Young shoots are wilted.
- Leaves are green but brittle.
- Algae and mushrooms are growing.
- Water runs off area being watered.
What type of plants should I grow?
One of the best ways to conserve water is to use plants that are drought-tolerant and that are adapted to the Apex area. Drought-tolerant or low-water use plants can continue to survive once they are established, even during times of little rainfall. Some low-water use plants for the Apex include Crape Myrtle, Elaeagnus, Eastern Red Cedar, Chinese and Japanese Hollies, Glossy Abelia, and Juniper.
How should I water my landscape?
One of the best ways to water your landscaping is to install a soaker hose. “Drip systems” get water directly to the roots of the plants where they need it most. Use drip systems and soaker hoses around trees and shrubs, flowers and garden areas.
Drip systems irrigate efficiently without water loss to evaporation. They also eliminate accidental watering of impervious surfaces, such as driveways and sidewalks.
What about irrigation systems?
The Water Conservation Ordinance details certain continuing water conservation measures. In order to prevent the unnecessary depletion the water supply the following measures apply to all town water customers and town water users at all times whether or not a water shortage exists. Theses measures include:
- No person shall operate an irrigation system in a manner that allows water to fall on impervious surfaces, such as driveways, roads, sidewalks and/or the like.
- No person shall operate an irrigation system in a manner that allows water to accumulate to the extent that it runs off the property.
- Rain sensors are required on all automatic irrigation systems. Rain sensors are devices that measure rainfall and override the irrigation systems, thus shutting it off. To meet the requirements of this ordinance meters should shut off irrigation systems when one-quarter inch (1/4) or more of rain has fallen.