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Water Conservation
To report pollution or water waste violations use Report It! or call Public Works 760-839-4668. The City offers water use evaluations, rebates, incentives, and landscape workshops to help businesses and households conserve. We ask residents and businesses to continue to do their part and be mindful of water usage.
Actions required at all times for Escondido Water Customers per The City’s Municipal Code:
- Eliminate excessive runoff from overwatering. This includes irrigation water leaving your property.
- Irrigate landscapes between the hours of 6 pm and 10 am
- Leaks and line breaks must be repaired as soon as they are discovered.
- Fountains must re-circulate the water.
- Washing any vehicle with a hose and not having a water shut-off nozzle is prohibited.
- Washing hardscape with a hose or other pressurized source is prohibited.
- Watering or irrigating outdoor landscaping with potable water during rainfall or within 48 hours of rain is prohibited.
- Hotels or motels must provide guests with the option not to have towels and/or linens laundered daily.
- Restaurants or other places where food is served will not serve drinking water to customers unless requested by the customer.
From Escondido Municipal Code, Article 5, including Section 31-230 and Section 31-232
Notice: California’s State Water Resources Control Board has adopted new water use efficiency regulations that may affect the amount of water the Region is allowed to supply to its customers. The regulations regulate water use limitations on California’s urban retail water suppliers, including the City of Escondido. Limitations are supplier-specific, based on individualized efficiency goals. The city does not expect an immediate impact on our customers.
The new regulation framework aims to increase the flexibility of individual suppliers, allowing them to tailor the methods used to achieve unique efficiency goals to best serve their district and customers. It also aims to reduce California's future need to employ emergency water use reduction targets, which the state has used during recent periods of drought.
For more information on the new regulation framework, check out the Making Conservation a California Way of Life Fact Sheet.
Find My Water
Find My Water District to confirm you are a City of Escondido water customer, you can also call Utility Billing 760-839-4682.
How Much Water Do You Use?
Use the Water Calculator to estimate household water use and see comparisons to both a typical and a water-efficient household. This tool can help identify strategies to improve overall household water efficiency.
Water Conservation
Bathroom
The bathroom accounts for 65% of the total water use inside the home.
Toilets
- Install a high efficiency toilet, which uses 1.28 gallons or less per flush. Look for available rebates from SoCal WaterSmart.
- Don't use your toilet as a trashcan.
- Check for leaks. To test for a leak, place a couple drops of food coloring in the tank. Do not flush the toilet. After about 15 minutes check the bowl. If you see any food coloring in the bowl, then you know you have a leak.
Showers / Baths
- Install a low-flow showerhead, which uses 2.5 gallons a minute or less.
- Take shorter showers.
- Filling the bathtub only halfway significantly reduces water usage.
Laundry Room
- Washing machines typically use about 45 gallons of water per load. You can reduce this amount by setting the dial on your machine to the appropriate load level. If your machine does not have this option, then wash only full loads.
- Purchase a high efficiency washing machine. Look for available rebates from SoCal WaterSmart.
Kitchen Area
- Wash only full loads in your dishwasher.
- If you do not have a dishwasher, rinse your dishes in a sink of water instead of under running water.
- Wash your vegetables in a bowl of water instead of under a faucet of running water.
- Repair all leaks. Replace washers on leaky faucets. Leaks can waste up to 190 gallons per month.
- Become a water manager by learning how to Read Your Meter (PDF).
- Implement best practices for a Watershed Approach to Landscaping (PDF).
- Water only between 6 pm and 10 am, and avoid watering when it is windy.
- Use mulch in your garden or landscape to retain soil moisture. Free mulch is available for Escondido residents at Ramona Disposal. Visit Escondido's Recycling Division page for details.
- Modify your irrigation schedule to reflect the changes in seasons.
- The Watering Index explains how to adjust your irrigation schedule without having to re-program your controller.
- Use a soil probe to test the moisture depth.
- If you notice water running off your landscape before the end of your irrigation run time, try cycling your run times or shortening the times you irrigate. Cycling means you irrigate for half of the runtime, wait for about an hour for the water to soak into the ground, and then water the rest of your runtime.
- Check your irrigation system on a monthly basis. Turn on each station and check for broken and misaligned sprinkler heads.
- Harness the value of the rain! Install a rain barrel to capture runoff from your roof and use it for watering landscaped areas including lawns and trees.
- Use a positive shut-off nozzle on your hose.
- Use a bucket of water when washing your car.
- Use a broom to clean off your driveway and sidewalks.
- Use a cover for your pool or spa.
- Consider whether a "laundry-to-landscape" graywater system is appropriate in your home.
- Use low-water or drought-resistant plants (the Nifty 50 (PDF)). Hydrozone your yard by grouping plants with similar water needs together.
- Repair all leaks.
- Schedule a Free Home Water Survey to identify ways of using water efficiently in and outside your home.
- Attend a free residential landscape workshop. Check our Education and Outreach page for upcoming workshops and events. Read on for more water-efficient landscape resources:
- access on-demand Landscape Makeover videos from the San Diego County Water Authority
- check out introductory Turf Transformation videos and attend virtual workshops from the Green Gardens Group
- learn more about how to qualify for rebates from the Turf Replacement Program