Our water utility is “requesting” a 20% reduction in water use. Currently using Flex Daily with drip system for shrubs and trees, don’t have a lawn. In the SF bay area so don’t expect any rain until November. What’s the best way to adjust settings to get a percentage reduction? I expect that some plants may get stressed and will have to do some hand watering to “rescue” them. Thanks!
Am hoping for some help on this issue as well.
SonomaRon, did you get any guidance?
Thanks
It’s really hard to say anything without knowing any specifics of your current setup. The most obvious/easiest to me is changing the Sun Exposure zone parameter. But before you start, you really need to establish a baseline that will allow you to evaluate effectiveness of changes. Like with any system, it can’t be optimized effectively unless it’s measured. Are you tracking daily water use? If not, that’s where I would recommend you start.
Looking at the description of Advanced Settings for zones in this help article https://support.rachio.com/en_us/how-do-i-edit-duration-and-frequency-on-flexible-daily-schedules-r10FDLkFw
it looks like the only adjustment that varies only watering duration is Nozzle Type or Nozzle Inches per Hour in Advanced Settings. Increasing the inches/hr decreases run time without changing watering frequency. Our water department web site does have daily/weekly/monthly water use amounts, so I’ll be able to track a change. I’ll try upping the inches/hr. and see what kind of duration reductions I get.
Are they really going to check it? I mean we all need to do our part, but I’m betting there are some bad offenders out there, and you with your Rachio probably aren’t one of them.
The issue with Flex Daily and restrictions is that you have to fool the system somewhere to get that savings, and it really isn’t “change x, you save y” kind of thing, and to what detriment of your yard.
If you already did your part, you shouldn’t get penalized for getting max saving already.
Keep watering how you are now, and not let your plants die.
Encourage your neighbors, family, friends, and co-workers to do their part and switch to a smart irrigation controller such as Rachio and help them set it up correctly.
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