Your Yard Can Be Greener

Water Smart Landscapes Start With WaterSense

WaterSense^®, a program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, helps homeowners and businesses improve water efficiency and reduce costs by promoting high-performing, water-efficient irrigation technologies and easy tips for the home and garden.

Having a beautiful landscape doesn’t have to mean wasting water or money. WaterSense takes some of the guesswork out of watering your yard by making it easy to find water-efficient technologies and services.

Home and business owners can look for the WaterSense label on products such as irrigation system controllers and know that the technology will provide ample water for healthy plant growth without overwatering. Weather-based irrigation controllers, for example, use local weather data to determine when and how much to water. Irrigation products that bear the WaterSense label have been independently certified to meet EPA’s criteria for water efficiency and high performance.

Homes with automatic irrigation systems can use about 50 percent more water than those without them. Properly installed and programmed WaterSense labeled irrigation controllers can:

• Significantly reduce water waste.
• Provide convenience.
• Meet plants’ water needs while supporting a healthy landscape.

Be sure to ask your irrigation contractor about WaterSense labeled components available for your outdoor watering system. And even more importantly, conduct regular checks and maintenance of your system to ensure ongoing water efficiency.

Even with the smartest irrigation technologies, WaterSense recommends consulting a professional certified in waterefficient techniques and practices before installing or making adjustments to your system. Consulting a certified irrigation professional can save water, time, and money.

WaterSense also recognizes professional certification programs that advance water-efficient irrigation techniques and practices. Whether you’re upgrading your system, having it audited, or checking it at the beginning of the season, be sure to look for a professional that is certified by a WaterSense labeled certification program.

Don't let an inefficient irrigation system control your water bill!

Did you know that 30 percent of the water used by the average American household is devoted to outdoor water use? In some parts of the country, homeowners use as much as 60 percent of their water outdoors. Some experts estimate that up to 50 percent of landscape water use goes to waste due to evaporation, wind, or runoff caused by overwatering!

Following are some simple tips for homeowners to reduce their outdoor water use dramatically:

• Look for the WaterSense label on irrigation components to improve the efficiency of your system.
• Replace a standard clock timer with a WaterSense labeled irrigation controller on a moderate-sized yard to save about 24 gallons of water per day.
• Irrigation system maintenance varies depending on the system, but it is always a good idea to inspect your system monthly to prevent leaks, broken or clogged heads, and other problems.
• Converting to a water smart landscape through careful plant selection and design can reduce outdoor water use by 20 to 50 percent.
• Mulch around shrubs and plants can reduce weeds, keep water where needed, and feed the plants as it decomposes.
• To reduce water waste from wind and evaporation, avoid watering during the mid-day sun or when it’s windy.
• Grass doesn’t need to be watered every day; step on the lawn, and if the grass springs back, it doesn’t need water.

This document is also available in PDF (4 pp, 615K, About PDF).