I went from soakers (had the same problems) to inground irrigation. Sprinklers are a lot easier. I still soaker hose young trees tho. My water bill is higher. I have almost no run off. To prevent run off I hand water the inferno strip and do any sloping areas that have run off in a two day deep soak instead of one day so the water has time to absorb.

I thought you were going to tell us how much it was! I'm really sweating (in more ways than one ... LOL) my June bill which hasn't come yet. Not sure if they read the meter yet and am hesitating on watering the lawn and getting into that higher bracket.

Well, it was just under $400.

PJ, did you put in your own system, or have it done? We put one in many years ago in Arlington, but there was a store there at the time where we bought the materials and they made the plan. It was also a full yard system, not just the foundation.

I, too, use a sprinkler system, but still deep water certain areas by hand at least once a week. Of course, this is from my well.........I could never use our "city" water as I would have to mortgage the house in order to pay for it. My neighbor went on vacation a few years back, left credit cards to pay the bills as they would be gone for longer than a month, and someone in charge of the sprinkler system. The "person left in charge" decided it was too much trouble to switch from the well to city water when needed so he just switched to city and left it there. They had a $23,000 water bill......yes, you read it correctly, that is thousand. Think that might get your attention???

Oh my goodness Carrie, somebody bring the smelling salts! I think I'm going to faint ...

Were they able to negotiate with the city to reduce the bill, take out a 35 year loan to pay it or what?

No, according to reports, they paid it plus an $800 late fee because the credit card company refused payment on that large amount. These people had more money than sense, IMHO, and I did not know them well. They no longer live there, and I miss their watering their vast lawn as my property is lower than theirs and I got all the run off.

Well, at least they could afford it. Me? Well, I just hope somebody can raise bail money ...

Oh I like that run off part. That used to happen here on both sides, but no more :-(

Yowza! That makes $400 seem downright cheap. Still, I wish I had a well. I am going to look for rain barrels too. Dh is out in the garden now, ripping out tomatoes.

We moved to a home that had in ground. It was one of my stipulations on houses when we moved. I always had sprinklers back in CA. In CA (desert) I watered 3x's a week. The bill was never over 100 bucks for 1/8 acre. My 1/4 acre here is usually over 200. I'd freak if it was 400. I guess those folks with the well should've been more specific with the caretaker. IMHO,from experience, rich folks frequently have more money than sense. They also tend to find the absolute cheapest route to any problem and end up with nincompoops who cost them 5x's as much as finding someone with a good reputation and paying a bit more...as a habit. I have no idea why this is.

well in south bexar county - just next to wilson cty. my water bill was 378- yikes! I am changing tactics and hoping it helps, we also have cows though, so it is not all plants, and we have a swimming pool to add to the chaos.