Slash Your Water Bill: 3 Ways to Spot Hidden Irrigation Leaks

Is your lawn burning a hole in your wallet? Think about this: the average home in Florida uses 991 gallons of water every irrigation cycle! That’s like running your dishwasher 50 times or keeping the bathroom faucet running for more than 8 hours…and it all gets sprayed on the yard in just 20 or 30 minutes. If you’re sticking to UF/IFAS guidelines for optimal watering times, this is happening right before sunrise while you’re probably still fast asleep. What’s even more shocking is that a recent study performed in neighborhoods within Florida’s Indian River Lagoon watershed area discovered that approximately 33% of irrigation water is wasted because of leaks and misaligned heads.

A home’s irrigation system is the largest and most demanding appliance to maintain.

Despite that, we have a mindset that we can set it and forget it. That is, until our water bill skyrockets. Usually, a hefty bill is the first sign for homeowners that something might be wrong. But it doesn’t have to reach that point.

Keep reading for three easy ways to spot an irrigation leak before your water bill is through the roof.

Sand on pavement — Sand washed up and out of the ground due to an underground break. Photo: Stephanie Means

1. Sand is washed up onto the driveway or sidewalk

These mysterious swirly sand piles indicate a crack or break in the piping underground. When the system is on, water bubbles up and pulls sand to the surface with it. This type of leak is significant, and that zone should be turned off until the leak is addressed.

Sparse grass with round leafed weeds mixed in — Scalloped round leaves of dollarweed mixed with St Augustine turfgrass. Photo: Stephanie Means

2. A spongy spot in the yard where grass is struggling and dollarweed is abundant.

Dollarweed, Hydrocotyle umbellata, is a native aquatic plant that thrives in wet areas. If you’re starting to see it pop up in the landscape in just one area, it’s a sign there’s too much water. This could be due to a broken pipe, leaking emitter, or an emitter that isn’t rising high enough above the turfgrass. Too much water deprives the turfgrass roots of oxygen. When there’s a persistent puddle from overirrigation in one spot, it can lead to turf struggling and these opportunistic weeds taking over.

Water puddle and wet pavement next to a grassy area — A puddle and wet pavement indicate a problem with the irrigation in this area. Photo: Stephanie Means

3. You wake up to a puddle of water on the driveway, road, or sidewalk.

Wet pavement when it hasn’t rained usually means that some of your sprinkler heads are misaligned or damaged, causing water to hit these impervious surfaces. Last we checked, you can’t grow grass on pavement! Sometimes the solution is as easy as adjusting the nozzle, but other times it might require the help of an irrigation professional. If everything seems to be aimed right but water is running off the lawn before it can soak in, you could be dealing with compacted soil. Water does not easily penetrate compacted soils and may just run off the surface, taking soil and nutrients with it. This is especially problematic on slopes. Consider running that zone in two parts. If the total run time is 25 minutes, set one shorter run for 5 minutes, let that water soak in for 10 minutes, and then set a second run for the remaining 20 minutes.

Even though it’s easy to set and forget, being proactive about your irrigation system can save you from unexpected water bills and environmental waste.

It’s a good habit to test run and visually inspect each zone at least once every three months to make sure everything is working well. By spotting leaks and problems with emitters early on, you can ensure your lawn remains healthy while conserving precious resources.

For more guidelines on research based irrigation best practices in Florida see: ENH9/LH025: Watering Your Florida Lawn.