Steps to take to prepare for freezing weather this week

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - Normally you would have heard from me the first week of December to turn off your sprinkler system to avoid freeze damage, but apparently Santa thought you were all good enough for three more weeks of unseasonably warm weather. However, all good things must come to an end, as they say.

Sunday evening a cold front is pushing our way, bringing with it freezing temperatures for Montgomery County starting Monday night. It would be an excellent time to shut down and drain your system if you have not already done so this weekend. It is much more enjoyable to do this when it’s 80 degrees outside instead of when your backflow freezes and ice cold water is hitting you. The three easy steps to accomplish this are listed on this web page under the winterization tab.

If you’ve been irrigating in the past 30 days, you might want to consider the following: grass and plants fare better when they are allowed to go dormant which is part of nature; All Woodland’s MUD District sewer rates for the YEAR are calculated on water consumption December, January and February. These are usually the lowest water volume months of the year, since irrigation systems should be turned off during this period. Starting September 1, 2015, water prices rose $0.26 per gallon (6%) with the 80% surface water coming from Lake Conroe, blended with 20% from underground water.

One other conservation incentive has been the introduction of the SWC charge which is Surface Water Conversion fee. This is for building the pipeline and furnishing the new blended water to comply with the Montgomery County mandate to reduce groundwater consumption by 30% by September 1, 2015. Maybe I’m the exception, but our October water bill was $191, but had an additional $108.66 SWC charge (+57%).

It’s obvious water is getting more expensive and my job is to make you an educated consumer and provide you with recommendations as to when you should start and stop watering, along with run times by month, based on historical weather date. We also suggest you have us review your system every three to five years to make sure it is operating efficiently, as sprinklers evolve and improve, like everything else in life.

In closing, I hope you find these quarterly emails helpful and beneficial. If you need anything else, or wish to schedule an appointment, please call our office at (281) 298-5050 or email Mike@greenearthsprinklers.com . We offer winterization for customers who don’t wish to deal with this task. Furthermore, due to the extended warm weather, have are continuing to offer aeration and a special blend of Texas fertilizer to prepare your yard over the winter through January 15. 2016.