From North Texas Municipal Water District North Texas Municipal Water District urges homeowners to follow suggested guidelines to maintain home foundations Use of soaker hose or drip irrigation is recommended August 30, 2013-Wylie, Texas As ongoing drought conditions persist in North Texas, homeowners are urged to follow suggested guidelines to maintain their home foundations. Effective June 1, cities served by the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) are under Stage 3 water management strategies limiting consumers to landscape watering with sprinklers or irrigation systems at each service address to once every seven days. Foundations, new landscaping, new plantings (first year) of shrubs, and trees may be watered for up to 2 hours on any day by a hand-held hose, a soaker hose, or a dedicated zone using a drip irrigation system. Customers should check with their city for specific regulations. Officials with Texas A&M Agrilife Extension and Research Center in Dallas offer these guidelines for proper watering around home foundations. “To properly water your home’s foundation, create an irrigation zone around the foundation of your home by installing soaker hoses or drip irrigation systems 8 to 18 inches away from the house,” said Dotty Woodson, Ed. D, Extension Program Water Resources Specialist at Texas A&M Agrilife in Dallas. “Water slowly and use a screwdriver or hand garden tool to dig into the soil near the foundation to determine water saturation,” Woodson added. To maintain soil moisture, the installation of 3 to 4 inches of mulch around the perimeter of your foundation and in the landscape beds is also strongly encouraged. “Using mulch helps keep soil moist and contributes to an efficient use of water during the Stage 3 restrictions now in effect,” said Jim Parks, Executive Director of NTMWD. “Everything we can do to conserve water during this drought helps extend our water supplies,” Parks added. For more information about maintaining the proper moisture around foundations, visit the Texas A&M Agrilife Research and Extension-Dallas website at dallas.tamu.edu, or NTMWD at ntmwd.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 16:00:24 +0000
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