TOHO Water Authority Rainy Season is Here — Save Money by Checking Your Irrigation

I don’t go out at 6:30 in the morning very often, but duty called and I did an early morning review of the new alley paving in the C-1 and C-2 neighborhoods of Harmony. It had rained over 2 inches the night before, so it was the perfect time to note drainage and ponding issues that might exist. During this outing, I noticed that a large number of residential irrigation systems were sprinkling homeowners’ yards despite the large amount of rain we had just had.

Adding so much reclaimed water to an already saturated lawn can cause a number of problems; fungus attacking the grass, emergence of a plethora of weeds including dollar weed, shallow root growth leading to more damage during drought, extra thatch buildup which can harbor chinch bugs, and the big one—money flowing down the stormwater drain.

But there is a way that you can save both your money and your yard now that the rainy season is here. This month I am partnering with TOHO so that they can help you with the solution. Here is what they have to say:

TOHO Water: Rain sensors help maintain a healthy lawn, save water and money.

Rainy Season

The rainy season has officially begun! From now to October we can expect a heavy increase in rainfall over most of Florida. As the rain starts up again, if the season is typical, your home irrigation systems can look forward to a well-deserved break. It is not uncommon to see an automatic sprinkler system performing its scheduled watering during a summer downpour. This is a serious waste of water and money, and can cause damage to the lawn from overwatering. Overwatering does more damage than underwatering. Florida law requires sprinkler systems to have a working rain sensor device. This device will override the sprinkler system when adequate rainfall has occurred. These sensors should be checked at least once annually, preferably just before the rainy season, to ensure proper operation.

Rain Sensors

Rain sensors are small devices that connect to your irrigation system controller and are mounted in an open area where it is exposed to rainfall.

How to Check Your Rain Sensor

1. Manually run an irrigation zone.

2 Spray or pour water onto your rain sensor.

3. See if the zone shuts off or if a rain sensor icon appears on your controller’s screen. If it does, your rain sensor is working.

4. If the zone doesn’t shut off or the icon doesn’t appear, you may need to inspect the sensor wiring, cork discs or batteries.

Conserve Water And Save Money

Rainfall is measured by water weight, electrical conductivity of water or by expanding disks. The most common shutoff device is an expanding disk rain sensor. It is effective, inexpensive and easy to install and maintain. Aside from being a requirement, a rain sensor is a smart and simple way to conserve water and save money, especially during a rainy Florida summer. Central Florida receives an average annual rainfall of approximately 55 inches, with two-thirds occurring between the months of May and October. A rain sensor will automatically shut off sprinkler systems during and after rain showers, allowing the irrigation system to return to its normal watering schedule when irrigation is needed. Rain sensor prices vary, but popular models can be purchased for around $20 at a home improvement store or your local irrigation supply store.

When rain sensors are inspected often and working correctly, they are able to save homeowners lots of water — more than 2,500 gallons per 1,000 square feet annually. And when rain sensors are used along with adherence to local guidance on water days and times, cost savings and a healthier lawn are the rewards. For more information on checking and testing your rain sensors and finding out your required irrigation schedule, visit our Watering Days and Times section on tohowater.com

If you need assistance on setting an irrigation timer to the required days and hours, Toho’s Conservation team can help at no cost to the homeowner. To set up an appointment, email waterconservation@tohowater.com or call us at 407-944-5124.