Year Round Watering Restrictions
The City of Pompano Beach, in partnership with the South Florida Water Management District, is reminding you to conserve water and follow the current two-day-a-week year-round landscape irrigation restrictions to protect water resources. Irrigation is not allowed between the daily hours of 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., when evaporation is highest.
South Florida yards normally only need to be irrigated up to twice a week for 15 minutes. The majority of residential water use occurs outdoors, with landscape irrigation accounting for 50 percent of home water use on average. One of the biggest impacts residents can make to conserve water is to (1) adjust irrigation controller settings to reduce the irrigation frequency or duration and (2) install a rain sensor to skip irrigating during Florida’s common wet weather events and save money on your water bill.
View the City of Pompano Beach irrigation schedule
Residences and businesses that use reuse water for irrigation are allowed to water all days, except between 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
If you have any questions about the current water restrictions, please call the South Florida Water Management District hot line at 800.662.8876 or the City of Pompano Beach Customer Service Department at 954.786.4637. For more information about irrigation restrictions, water saving tips and up-to-the-minute water conditions, visit www.sfwmd.gov/waterwatch.
Free Plumbing Retrofits
If you live in a single family or multi-family residence and you get your water from the City of Pompano Beach, you are eligible for a free plumbing retrofit kit that includes a low-flow showerhead, kitchen and bathroom faucet aerators and toilet leak detection tablets. Fill out this form to request yours today! If you have any questions, please call the Reuse Water Conservation Coordinator at (954) 545-7015.
NatureScape Irrigation Service (NIS)
The focus of this program is to promote water conservation by efficient irrigation use. The City of Pompano Beach participates in this program and is allowed to select six high water users per year (i.e., condominiums). Once a participant agrees to participate, Broward County irrigation specialists visit the site to see how the efficiency of the sprinkler system can be improved. There are no obligations, just recommendations for improvements. This program is completely free of charge. Please contact the Reuse Water Conservation Coordinator at 954-545-7015 if you are interested or have any questions.
Residential Irrigation Rebates
Ready to upgrade your home irrigation system? The City of Pompano Beach, in partnership with Broward County, is offering rebates for installation of EPA WaterSense-labeled smart irrigation controllers and pressure regulating spray bodies. Visit broward.org/irrigationrebate to apply, or view this flyer for more information. First come, first served!
Conservation Tips
What is water conservation? Using water efficiently, to preserve water and avoid waste What are the benefits? Save money, Save water & energy, Save resources (Biscayne Aquifer, wellfields) and save the environment.
Saving Water in and around your Home
The average single-family residence in Pompano Beach uses 16,000 gallons per month. Individual use may vary based on the number of people in your household, and irrigation demand. See this link to read more about saving water in and around your home.
Indoor Water Savings:
- Turn off the tap when brushing teeth or shaving
- Only run full loads in washer and dishwasher
- Thaw food in fridge overnight
- When waiting for hot water out of the tap, collect cold water for plants or other uses
- Install EPA WaterSense certified products in your home: https://lookforwatersense.epa.gov/products/
Outdoor Water Savings:
- Check hoses, connectors and sprinkler system for leaks
- Don't mix sprinkler brands, types or sizes in the same zone
- Check for sprinkler overspray on sidewalks and driveways and adjust sprinkler heads accordingly
- Use a rain sensor (per State law mandatory for automatic irrigation systems) so you’re not watering when you don’t need to!
- Follow irrigation rule restrictions (certain days –except for reuse - and no watering between 10:00 am- 4:00 pm)
- Use drip irrigation (water soaks into soil, evaporation is reduced)
- Use the right type of grass (different recommendations depending on the area where you live): Zoysia grass, Paspalum grass and Bermuda grass
- Group plants accordingly by watering needs, amount of sunlight, etc.
- Use reuse water for irrigation
- Fertilize sparingly
- Mow your grass only to 1/3 of grass length (to encourage roots to grow deeper and grass blades to hold more moisture)
More tips can also be found on the SFWMD website or the EPA website.
Events
Fix a Leak Week: third week of March
Are you ready to chase down leaks? Household leaks can waste nearly 1 trillion gallons of water annually nationwide, so each year we hunt down the drips during Fix a Leak Week. Mark your calendars for EPA's annual Fix a Leak Week during the third week of March—but remember that you can find and fix leaks inside and outside your home to save valuable water and money all year long.
Water Conservation Month: April
The South Florida Water Management District declared April to be Water Conservation Month, an annual declaration highlighting the District's efforts with communities, utilities, and local partners to encourage water conservation efforts. April has been formally recognized as Water Conservation Month in Florida for the past 21 years, as April is typically a dry month when water demands are higher due to springtime planting.
For simple steps to conserve water indoors and outdoors, see this document or visit https://www.sfwmd.gov/community-residents/water-conservation.
Water Reuse Week: third week of May
The annual recognition is made by the South Florida Water Management District each year to highlight the ongoing efforts to encourage the use of reclaimed water.
With demand for water forecasted to grow over the next 20 years, the use of reclaimed water, primarily used for irrigation in South Florida, reduces the demand on our underground aquifers and preserves our precious water resources. It can also help fight saltwater intrusion into these aquifers that supply drinking water to millions of South Florida residents and visitors.
For more information, please see https://www.sfwmd.gov/our-work/alternative-water-supply/reuse or visit us at www.icanwater.com to sign up for OASIS Reuse if you’re a City of Pompano Beach water service customer.
Conservation Questions & Answers
Does the City have a conservation program?
A water conservation program is mandated as one of the limiting conditions of our consumptive Use Permit. The City has a comprehensive conservation program. This program consists of water saving campaigns and efforts that will lower our water consumption. Facets of this program include alternative water supply (such as reuse), building requirements for new construction that save water (required by City ordinance), conservation rate structures, public information/outreach, water conservation tips (webpage and City Tradewinds), retrofits at public events or mailed to customers, presentations at public locations, as well as infrastructure repair and monitoring. We are constantly working toward increasing our conservation goals as a City.
Why does the city need a conservation program?
A good conservation program is like having a good maintenance program around the home. It is our responsibility to take care of our infrastructure and our natural resources (aquifer) by reducing unnecessary consumption and waste. By implementing a variety of conservation measures we use only what we need, leaving more water and resources for the environment as well as future City residents and businesses.
Why should I care about conserving water, it's inexpensive and seems abundant?
Drinking water is not abundant: only a very small percentage on our planet is fresh water and can be used for drinking water. We get our water from the Biscayne Aquifer, as do other locations in South Florida. If the water table gets too low, not only will there be less drinking water for all to share, but salt water intrusion will increase. That would make treatment even more expensive, and thus your water bill possibly higher.
Even though drinking water has been less expensive than other natural resources such as gas, electricity or fuel, conserving water has an immediate effect on your wallet and an indirect effect on water Utility rates. With a growing population, buying more products that need water to be produced, the demand for water will increase and water will become even scarcer. Economics taught us that scarce products will be priced higher.
What does Lake Okeechobee have to do with a water shortage in our City?
Lake Okeechobee normally supplies water to the lower east coast of Florida through the conservation areas as well as the canal system. When water levels fall below levels specified in the Lake regulation schedule, the South Florida Water Management District must stop withdrawals and issue water shortage restrictions. When the Lake reaches certain levels, water may no longer physically pulled from the lake without forward pumps. Upon installation of the pumps, natural flows into the system are disturbed.
What steps can I take to help conserve water?
Please view the conservation tips section on this page.
Who do I call if I see my neighbor watering on the wrong day?
Please call code Enforcement at (954) 786-4361.
