Menlo Park Municipal Water encourages customers to conserve water

Published on December 20, 2021

Since July, Menlo Park Municipal Water customers have been successful at cutting water usage by 5%. Menlo Park is encouraging its customers to continue to conserve water by reducing usage by at least 10% as our area is still in an extreme drought. One of the easiest ways for customers to save water is by limiting your irrigation usage, specifically by cutting back on watering lawns. Lawns are the single biggest water user for a typical property. That means cutting back on watering your lawn can offer the greatest potential for water savings.

Here are 10 tips to help reduce your water use, better manage your landscaping and help your lawn survive the drought:

1. Limit watering to two days per week
2. Shut off irrigation system during rainstorms
3. Use the “cycle and soak” method by splitting your watering into two short watering cycles in an hour to allow the water to soak in
4. Check your sprinkler heads regularly to make sure they work properly
5. Replace old fan nozzles with high efficiency rotating nozzles to improve coverage
6. Water between midnight and 6 a.m.
7. Mow lawns to 2 ½ to 3 inches high to promote deeper roots and to reduce evaporation
8. Use a lawn aerator to perforate the soil and reduce fertilization
9. Minimize foot and equipment traffic on the lawn
10. Leave clippings on the lawn as your mow to add nutrients back to the soil.

Menlo Park Municipal Water offers many conservation incentives and rebates programs. This includes free water-saving shower heads, faucet aerators, toilet leak detection tablets, self-audit tool kits and rebate programs for rain barrels, sprinklers controllers, turf replacement and free landscape analysis to its customers.

For more information on the drought or water conversation programs visit the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency or the City’s drought webpage.