Lino Lakes Environmental Coordinator, Andy Nelson, says up to 60 percent of water usage for a typical home is used for outdoor irrigation during the growing season. About half of that is wasted on overwatering, evaporation, and non-target watering. It could add up to an extra 150 gallons a day.
“We target that outdoor irrigation as our largest water use, so that’s the area where we can make the biggest impact as far as conservation,” says Nelson.
The city is offering a limited number of reduced-cost irrigation controllers that can be hooked up to your irrigation system. It connects to your wifi and your smart phone, and it decides when your lawn needs to be watered.
“You have an app on your smart phone and that will track local weather quite accurately, and if there’s rain in the forecast the program will skip watering for that session,” says Nelson. “That’s where your water savings is at.”
Another reason to conserve is to reduce the amount of manganese in the water system. When water use climbs, the city has to turn on additional wells that are higher in manganese. That’s something they are trying to avoid.
“So if we can reduce demand, we can reduce the time those higher manganese wells are run, and in turn that will improve the water quality that’s delivered to residents,” said Nelson.
The controllers are being sold to Lino Lakes residents on a first-come, first-serve basis. The cost is $47.50 plus tax. At least half of the 100 units available are already spoken for. If you can’t get one or don’t have a watering irrigation system, the city still urges conservation during the growing season.
The electronic controllers have been popular because of the reduced price. If you live in Lino Lakes you can fill out an application form on the city’s website and mail it in, or deliver it in person to city hall.
