Winter Tips
Getting Ready for Freezing Weather
Cold snaps in Fredville can damage pipes and property. These easy precautions protect your home and can also keep your water bill down.
- Shut off your sprinkler system. If there has been no rain, water about once every three weeks, choosing a day when temperatures stay above freezing. Check the system by running each zone for a minute, then fix or adjust anything that sends water into the street, where runoff can turn to ice.
- Unhook garden hoses, let them drain and keep them inside until spring.
- Protect outdoor spigots with foam faucet covers from a hardware or home improvement store, or wrap them in thick cloth with a layer of plastic on top.
- Insulate pipes in garages and attics with pipe insulation or heat tape.
- Find your home's main water shut-off valve, which is usually tucked into a front-yard flower bed. If a frozen pipe bursts as it thaws, you will be able to turn off the water quickly.
- Leave the cabinet doors beneath sinks open so warm indoor air can reach the pipes.
- Let both hot and cold taps drip slowly in kitchen and bathroom sinks and in tubs. Keeping water moving through the lines helps stop them from freezing solid.
- Going out of town for a while? Ask a trusted neighbor or friend to stop by every few days.
- Winterize any home or business that is completely empty: turn off the water at the meter, then open every faucet on the property so the lines drain.
- If a pipe does freeze, let it thaw gradually by letting warmer air reach it.
- Do not use a hair dryer or any other heat source to thaw a pipe.
Watering in Drought
What to Avoid During a Drought
When drought is severe, skip quick-release fertilizers that are high in salt, and avoid digging beneath a tree's canopy. Resist trimming living branches from young trees simply because it is dry; the tree may rely on them once rain returns.
Drought Map
Produced by a national partnership, the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) maps where drought is occurring nationwide and how severe it is. Its data is refreshed every Tuesday and published each Thursday.
The current map is available on the U.S. Drought Monitor website.
Outdoor Watering
Cutting Back on Outdoor Water Use
A few easy habits can shrink the amount of water you use outdoors and lower your bill:
- Water each part of the yard according to its needs. Lawn areas belong on a different schedule from shrubs, flower beds and other plantings, and plants with similar needs should share a zone. Choose the type of irrigation that best suits your layout and the plants you grow.
- Use the right tools. Sprinklers work best on turf, while trees, shrubs, flowers and groundcovers do well with low-volume drip lines, sprays, soaker hoses or bubblers.
- Maintain your equipment. Adjusting the irrigation system regularly saves both water and money.
Smart Lawn Watering
Research shows the average lawn gets about twice the water it needs to stay healthy. Let the grass tell you when it is thirsty. Check with a moisture probe, or hold off until you see stress signs: a dull, grayish tint to the grass, footprints that linger after you walk across it, or blades that curl.
To water efficiently, start by measuring how much your sprinkler puts down:
Let the sprinkler run for 30 minutes, overlapping the spray patterns so the lawn is covered evenly. Sandy soil needs water more often than loam or clay. Clay and loam can be watered less frequently, but slowly, so the water soaks in rather than running off. On slopes, set sprinklers near the top. Run them for 5 to 15 minutes, pause, and repeat in 5- to 15-minute cycles until the lawn has received the right amount.
Guidance from the Texas Water Development Board and the state agricultural extension service suggests that, in the Fredville area, Bermuda grass needs roughly 1 to 1.5 inches of water every 7 to 10 days. St. Augustine does best when it gets 1.5 to 1.75 inches about every fifth day. Buffalo grass is much hardier and gets by on roughly one inch every two to five weeks.
Water early in the morning or in the evening, because daytime evaporation can waste up to 60 percent more water. Avoid watering from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and whenever it is windy, and aim sprinklers at the grass rather than sidewalks and driveways.
Native Plants That Save Water
The regional native-landscaping program builds on xeriscape principles and adds design ideas, care guides and plant search tools suited to North Central Texas. Visit the program online to learn more.
Indoor Water Conservation
In the Kitchen
- Wait until the dishwasher is full before running it.
- Rinse and wash dishes in a stoppered sink or a dishpan rather than under a running tap.
- Clean fruits and vegetables in a bowl of water instead of under the faucet.
- Let pots and pans soak instead of scrubbing them under running water.
- Thaw frozen food in the refrigerator, not under running water; it saves water and is safer.
In the Laundry Room
- Set the water level to fit the size of each load.
- Run the washer only with a full load.
- If you are shopping for a new washer, look for a model that is efficient with both energy and water.
In the Bathroom
- Toilets are among the most common sources of leaks, and those leaks are often silent. Check yours at least once a year.
- Never flush tissues or wipes, even ones labeled "flushable." They do not break apart the way toilet paper does. Instead they tangle with other wipes and debris, harm household plumbing, damage pumps at the wastewater treatment plant and must be pulled out of screens and lift stations by hand.
- Rinse your razor in a stoppered sink instead of under running water.
- Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth.
- Think about installing water-efficient faucets and a low-flow showerhead.
- Keep showers short; a quick five-minute rinse takes less water than filling the tub.
Around the House
- Check for leaks often.
- Watch for unusually high usage with the City's online water use tracker. Your water bill and meter can also help you spot leaks.
Water Conservation Speakers
Civic clubs, community groups and charities can request a speaker to talk about saving water. Call (555) 010-6782 for details.
Fredville Water Conservation Ordinance
State law requires Fredville to maintain a Water Conservation Plan, which sets year-round conservation rules for homes and businesses. These rules apply whether or not the area is in a drought, and tighter limits may be put in place if a drought develops. Key points of the plan include:
- Water lawns only before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m., all year long; no watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
- Turn sprinklers off whenever nature is already doing the job, whether with drizzle, rain, hail, snow or ice.
- Aim sprinklers at the lawn, not at concrete, brick, stone or other hard surfaces.
- Repair any broken or missing sprinkler heads.
- Keep irrigation systems in good working order so they do not waste water.
- Newer irrigation systems must have rain, wind and freeze sensors.
For up to 30 days, the ordinance permits watering outside these limits in order to:
- Establish new hydromulch, sod or grass seed
- Control dust on a sports field
- Maintain, repair or test an irrigation system
- Water with a soaker hose or a hose held by hand
Deep watering done infrequently, no more often than every five days, encourages deeper roots and produces healthier plants that handle drought better. People or businesses that will not follow the ordinance can be fined as much as $2,000. For details, call Water Utilities at (555) 010-5748.
- Full Water Conservation Plan (PDF)
- Drought Contingency Plan (PDF)
State of Texas Water Conservation Plan
Texas lawmakers set up a consensus-based water planning process in 1997. The approach has drawn national praise, and many see it as a model for state water planning that is driven at the local level.
Not carrying out the State Water Plan would be costly. The plan is vital to public health and a strong economy, yet it has not been fully put into place, and doing so depends on state funding. Without it, by 2060 half of all Texans could run short of water in certain droughts. Drought already drains billions of dollars a year in earnings from Texas businesses and the people they employ, and those losses could climb to $116 billion a year if the plan is not implemented.
Fredville lies within one of the regional water planning areas the Texas Water Development Board uses for North Texas.
- Full State of Texas Water Plan (PDF)
- Interactive State of Texas Water Plan
Fredville is a demonstration city built by Talk to Fred. Names, numbers and details on this page are sample content.