Watering Days for Gardens
Watering days for gardens questions and answers are available below.
For more specific information visit : Storage trigger levels, Gardening rules, Dripper systems, Vehicle washing, Sports grounds/clubs, Pools and spas, Industry and small businesses, Penalties and exemptions, other stage 3A questions, stage 4 restrictions, further information or the general questions and answers.
What if I don’t have a house number?
Where there is no house number the property is considered as an ‘even’ numbered house. Even and no-numbered properties can water plants on Saturday and Tuesday within specified watering times.
What if my automatic dripper system doesn’t allow me to water on my set days?
There are a number of options available to customers in this situation:
- Re-read the instructions of your system – our research shows that up to 40 per cent of automatic watering system owners do not know how to program their system – otherwise contact the manufacturer for more information.
- Your dripper system may handle ‘set’ days of the week (ie Sat & Tue). If this is the case you will be able to program your system to manage a weeks watering in advance – requiring you to reset your program once weekly.
- If your dripper system does not handle either of these options, perhaps it can be upgraded with additional hardware to make it perform as required under Stage 3a restriction rules. Speak to your product manufacturer or contact your local Water Saver Garden Centre.
- Alternatively you can switch over your automatic dripper system to the manual setting and water according to the manual watering restrictions.
Note: Since 1 September 2005 any new automatic dripper system installed is required to have a rain or soil moisture sensor controller integrated into the system. We recommend that older systems be fitted with such sensors too – in fact it is compulsory for Councils to have these sensors on any automatic watering system.
I am going on holidays and am worried that I will be watering at the wrong times. What can I do?
Residents, business, industry and Government are required to follow Stage 3a water restrictions. It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that they are complying with the restrictions – even when they are on holidays.
The best solution is to install an automatic dripper system before you go, however if our tips (see above) don’t help then perhaps seek assistance from your relatives, friends or neighbours to water your plants while you are away.
Why are even numbered houses disadvantaged by having one of their watering days on a Saturday? A lot of people go out on Friday night - and it’s hard to get up on a Saturday morning when people work all week.
The Drought Response Plan states that even numbered houses can water on a Saturday and Tuesday. It was developed in consultation with the community and it was fair to give even and odd numbered households the opportunity to water their garden on the weekend.
Why does the rule of only watering two days a week exist? It’s tough on people with automatic dripper systems.
It is important to understand that there is a water shortage at the moment and we must do our best to save water wherever we can.
Watering two days a week has been successful in other parts of Victoria and Australia for a number of years and we have already found this to be true in Melbourne.
What if I refuse to abide by this rule?
Penalties apply for non-compliance.
What level of consultation took place to formulate these rules of odds and even watering?
The water industry undertook extensive consultation in this and other rules enforced as part of the four-stage restriction schedule. Forums took place with industry associations and peak bodies; advice was sought from industry experts in the horticultural and other industry sectors. Additionally, public comment was sought through an open invitation in the press.
It should also be noted that this system has been in place in many other jurisdictions and in fact has been part of Melbourne’s water restrictions (in the superceded Drought Response Plan) since the early 1990s.