Conservation
Summer Water Schedule in Effect May 1-September 15
Reminder: Summer Water Conservations Measures to Continue
Once again this year, limited water conservation measures will be instituted by the WTMUA from May 1 to September 15.
Click Here to view our Water Conservation Schedule.
Beginning May 1, there will be a ban in effect on non-essential outdoor uses of water by residential and commercial customers between the hours of 11:00am through 6:00pm. Non-essential use includes sprinkling lawns, washing cars, and filling pools. The ban will be in effect through September 15.
Outside use of water may take place before 11:00am and from 6:00 p.m. through midnight based on an odd/even calendar day system, which has been established on a geographical basis as detailed by the map above.
You may use water on ODD NUMBERED CALENDAR DAYS before 11:00am and from 6:00pm to midnight if your property is located to the EAST SIDE of Egg Harbor Road.
You may use water on EVEN NUMBERED CALENDAR DAYS before 11:00am and from 6:00pm to midnight if your property is located to the WEST SIDE of Egg Harbor Road.
How to Save & Watering Your Lawn
You can save money and still maintain a nice lawn. On average, an inch of water every four days is enough. Follow the directions below suggested by the South Jersey Resource Conservation and Development Council.
When And How Much To Water
Lawns should be watered about every four days. Soil texture determines the actual frequency. Sandy soil needs to be watered more often.
Here's a simple way to determine how much to water your lawn:
- Place three or more coffee-type cans at various locations on your lawn.
- Turn on your sprinkler for 15 minutes
- Turn off the sprinkler (s), then measure the depth of water in each can with a ruler, and average the measurements.
- Use the Homeowner Lawn Watering Guide below to determine the amount of time to water.
Homeowner Lawn Watering Guide
Depth caught in 15 minutes:
| Daily Water Needs | 1/8in | 1/4in | 3/8in | 1/2in | 5/8in | 3/4in | 7/8in | 1in |
Watering time in minutes to water every four days:
| Spring | 77 | 41 | 29 | 23 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 13 |
| Summer | 101 | 53 | 37 | 29 | 24 | 23 | 19 | 17 |
| Fall | 53 | 29 | 21 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 13 |
Here is an example: If you measure 1/2 inch of water in your coffee cans, then you should water each zone in your lawn every four days for the following times:
Spring: 23 minutes, Summer: 29 minutes, Fall: 17 minutes
The amount of rainfall during a four-day interval will change the amount of water needed. Abnormal cloudiness or hot winds will also cause variations from the average.
Lawn Care
The best way to cut down on your water bill is to cut down on your outdoor water use. This can best be accomplished by focusing on lawn care. Watering lawns in the summer uses up a great deal of water. Here are a number of suggestions that can help you cut down on your lawn watering:
- Plan your lawn. Draw a plan of your house and lot. Plan part of your yard as a private area.
- Improve the soil. Test your soil and only use the nutrients that are needed. A mail-in soil test kit is available at the Gloucester County Office Building on Delsea Drive. Call 863-0110 for information. Make sure you check the pH of your soil. Most of Gloucester County has soil pH of 4.5 and it limits what will grow in the soil. Lime applications can raise soil pH to 6.5 to 7.0 making more nutrients available. This can make the lawn more drought tolerant.
- Reduce grass area. Cut beds into your lawn to reduce the amount of grass. Use drought resistance plants in those beds. Use drought tolerant grass such as tall fescue or zoysia grass. Consult a lawn care professional for information.
- Increase mulch area. A larger mulch area helps lower water demand, cuts down on thirsty weeds, and prevents evaporation.
- Plant low water-demand plants. Choose from the following list of drought tolerant plants.
| Shade Trees | Small Trees | Evergreens | Shrubs |
| Red Maple | Amur Maple | White Fir | American |
| Hackberry | Mimosa | Norway Spruce | Holly |
| Green Ash | Gray Birch | Colorado Spruce | Japanese Holly |
| Ginkgo | Witchhazel | White Pine | Dense Yew |
| Amur Cork Tree | Goldenraintree | Scotch Pine | Chaste Tree |
| White Oak | Crabapples | Atlas Cedar | Red Cedar |
| Scarlet Oak | Jap. Tree Lilac | Mugo Pine | |
| Red Oak | Blackhaw Viburnum | Adams Needle | |
| Anthony Water Spirea | |||
| Pfitzer Juniper | |||
| Wintergreen Barberry | |||
| Glossy Ableia |
Obtain a copy of Landscaping for Water Conservation: A Guide for New Jersey by Theodore Shelton, Ph.D. & Bruce Hamilton, Ph.D. For this and other related publications contact one of the following:
New Jersey DEP
Division of Water Resources
Office of Water Conservation
CN 029
Trenton, NJ 08625
Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Gloucester County
Gloucester County Office Building
North Delsea Drive
Clayton, NJ 08312
For further information contact the South Jersey RC&D Council at (609) 561-3223 or at www.sjrcd.org for booklets concerning water conservation.
Why We Store Water
We store water in elevated storage tanks for two reasons:
- We use the stored water for emergency use when there is a problem with its supply. The NJDEP (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection) wants us to have at least one day supply stored for fire protection.
- The elevation of the stored water supplies most of the water pressure for the community. Every one foot of elevation supplies s0.433 psi (pounds per square inch) of pressure.
Fix That Leaky Faucet
Water leaks cost money. A dripping faucet or fixture can waste 3 gallons a day......a total of 1,095 gallons a year!
A 1/4 inch continuous water leak, at 60 psi, from a leaking faucet will waste 1,181,500 gallons of water in a 3 month period. Consider the cost of one million gallons of water per quarter to your household expenses.
Use the handy table below to determine the amount of wasted water for a given size leak:
| Stream Diameter | Gallons Wasted | Cubic Feet Wasted | Cubic Meters Wasted |
| 1/4 in | 1,181,000 | 158,000 | 4.475 |
| 3/16 in | 666,000 | 89,031 | 2,521 |
| 1/8 in | 296,000 | 39,400 | 1,115 |
| 1/16 in | 74,000 | 9,850 | 280 |
Learn More
To learn more about water conservation contact the South Jersey RC&D Council at (609) 561-3223 or for booklets concerning water conservation go to www.sjrcd.org