When? How Much? How Often?

You can save thousands of gallons of water each year by adjusting your watering schedule on your irrigation controller.

If you have an automatic irrigation controller, this is usually called Start Time or Cycle Start.

Early morning is best - before 7:00 a.m. Pasadena’s water waste ordinance prohibits watering between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm.  Hand watering with a hose fitted with a shut off device and drip irrigation are exempt from the time of day ordinance, however avoiding midday watering is still recommended.

If you have an automatic irrigation controller, this is usually called Run Time or Water Time.

Try the Runoff Test first. Run your irrigation system until water starts to runoff. This will be the longest amount of time you run your system.  It may be 90 seconds or 10 minutes depending on the type of soil you have, the type of irrigation system and the slope.  You may need several start times spaced out over a longer period of time (cycle and soak).   It’s very important to follow this method since excessive irrigation runoff is illegal in Pasadena.

Now use the Pasadena Watering Guide or visit www.bewaterwise.com to calculate a watering schedule for your garden. Adjust the actual minutes/hours per Start Time based on your runoff test results.

The Pasadena Watering Guide has figured this out for you. The watering calculator will also figure this out for you. You'll need to manually adjust your controller each month!

A smart irrigation controller will do this for you automatically. Rebates may be available for smart irrigation controllers.