Starting June 1, Durham residents will have to follow rules when they're watering their lawns. Monday night the Durham City Council approved new year-round water restrictions for all customers here.

The new schedule applies to all spray irrigation systems:

Those customers with odd-numbered addresses can water once on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m.

Customers who live at even-numbered addresses will water their lawns once on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m.

The city won't allow watering on Mondays, but will allow temporary licenses to establish new landscapes.

Hand-watering and drip irrigations systems are not restricted.

The ordinance says there could be civil penalties up to $250.00 for violations.

City leaders said it's an effort to make water ordinances across the Triangle more uniform.

"During the drought of 2007-2008, inconsistencies with the different levels of restrictions in place among water systems in the Triangle Region led to confusion among customers," the executive summary reads. "Additionally, the different terminology used by neighboring jurisdictions also created misunderstanding among customers."

A city news release says, in addition to the irrigation schedule, the new efficiency ordinance requires rain sensors or soil moisture sensors for all newly installed automated irrigation systems. Existing systems must install sensors by Nov. 30. Additional requirements of the ordinance include:

No excessive runoff from landscape irrigation.
No irrigation while it's raining.
Required repair of known leaks within 30 days.

Related Links

1. Durham Department of Water Management