Help save my new lawn- water restrictions going up

[JDub]

Hey all,

I have recently (a few months ago) as part of my landscaping efforts put in two reasonably small area's of new turf with full automatic irrigation system, front and backyard, both areas about 50m2. My family loves the new grass and we want to keep it alive:o

Now water restrictions here in the ACT are at stage two, which means no sprinkler systems with the exception of evening weekends, other wise you need to hand water.... this is fine, I use the sprinklers once a week and then if needed hand water once during the week.

However when we go to stage 3 (which is looking very likely) you are not to water turf at all. Im all for saving water and understand the importance of it but at the same time wish to save my little green lawn.

What are my options? and costs involved (on a budget)?

1) Rainwater tank with pump to handwater? How big a tank do I need?
2) Rainwater tank hooked up to my auto irrigation system/solenoids? (im not even sure if this is possible)
3) divert the grey water from the shower and bath to my front lawn (downhill), but this doesnt help my backlawn, also concerned about the shampoos, soap and chemicals affecting the lawn?
4) just let my lawn die :(

Sorry bout all the questions, but your thoughts and experiences would help me out :)

Cheers

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=32497

[MurrayD99]

We get 400 gallons a day from the county - goes not very far if you try and keep the garden alive. Houses here not connected to town water used to have a 5,000 gallon tank cast on site - usually with the top forming a patio. This would be connected to a small pump (200 gal/hr) and thus to the header tank in the ceiling. Float switch.... The same pump could be plumbed to a bore (not drinkable!!!:eek:) with gate valves to get the water to the garden taps (not the header tank!!:eek:). Want to water the garden - easy (override the float switch temporarily... change the water source... away it goes).

If you have room on the section/plot/yard for a 5,000 gallon tank, it would be the way to go. You don't need to integrate it with the house water (though if you can't have a shower when you want. maybe it would be useful). Tank cost is $NZ2,000, won't be more, I guess, in ACT and pump isn't a big deal.

[johnc]

I'd look at a waste water system off the showers pumped directly each day. Soap and shampoo are not a problem for lawn and you probably produce more water from the shower than the roof does from rain. We are starting to look at the same thing here, and I am beginning to look at a non storage option pumping to different parts of the garden through an exisiting reticulation system. I am about to find out if soap etc will block the spray jets, someone else may know and save me the research.

John

[masoth]

Surviverability (is that a word?:D ) depends on what the lawn is. Although you might have only rain to water the lawn revival is likely with most grasses.
I use a 3000 ltr rainwater tank, and a watering-can to ensure my lawn does not die completely.
My suggestion is that you recycle grey-water for the front, and install a 3000, or 5000 ltr tank with a pump for the back - as I understand, it you should be entitled to fill the tank fron a commercial supplier. It is not likely to fill from rain soon.
The pump would supply a sprinkler with minimum flow keeping your lawn alive.
Most grass is much tougher that people realize, but good luck, anyway.

soth

[masoth]

Ooops, bye the way, it looks great and I can see why you don't want to lose it.

[Bleedin Thumb]

JDub's Lawn
RIP
1996-1996

:( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :D


Best start to say your goodbyes now.:D
Think of the mowing you will save yourself.

[JDub]

JDub's Lawn
RIP
1996-1996

:( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :D


Best start to say your goodbyes now.:D
Think of the mowing you will save yourself.


:p We had some good times we did

*cuts to chessy clip of me rolling and frolicking on the grass*

BTW did we lose a decade all of a sudden and no one told me about it? I remembered it rained once or twice back in 1996 ;)

[Doughboy]

JDub

It looks as though you have access to under your house, if this is the case catching the grey water from your bath, shower and laundry is relatively easy.

I have my own set up and this is all my place ever gets. If it does not live on grey water then it does not live in my garden. I have not turned on a tap to water lawn or garden for over four years and dont intend to start now.

I have 50 mm PVC to divert all the water to a plastic 200lt drum it goes through a filtration set up I made and then pump this out every night and sometimes when we are doing a few loads of washing three times a day.

Pump is relatively cheap if your dont have a great slope on your block, just one of those submersible ones is all I started out with but now I have a Davey Dynajet because we moved to a block with 15 metre lift from front to back and the little pump just would not do it.

Pete

[Wood Butcher]

I have been diverting the grey water from my washing onto the grass here and we have lots of green. Just make sure that you get a phosphate free detergent to minimise the effect.

[JDub]

Ooops, bye the way, it looks great and I can see why you don't want to lose it.


Cheers and thanks for the suggestions, I will look into the raintank option however I fear my hip pocket may not like it :( :( :rolleyes:

I will definately look at DIY installing a gravity fed grey water hose from the bath and shower though, simple and cheap and may at least give one lawn area bit of a chance.

Hopefully they wont increase the restrictions and both areas will be saved from the fate Bleedin has predicted..... wishful thinking maybe :mad: :rolleyes:

[Bleedin Thumb]

BTW did we lose a decade all of a sudden and no one told me about it? I remembered it rained once or twice back in 1996 ;)

Whooa those flash backs come at the worse times!

Of course I know its 2006 I was just testing you.:p

[JDub]

I have 50 mm PVC to divert all the water to a plastic 200lt drum it goes through a filtration set up I made and then pump this out every night


Thanks Pete, :)

Pics? more info on the filtration and pump system you use?

Joel

[Wood Butcher]

Joel

SWMBO just gave me this link about washing powders and their phosphorous content. Might be of some help.
http://www.lanfaxlabs.com.au/papers/Na-P-graph-2005.pdf

[Clinton1]

what sort of grass is it? Couch, buffalo, kikiyu.....?

That kind of defines your options.
Couch and Buffalo can go a lot longer without water, and a once every 2 or 3 weeks watering might do.
With buffalo or couch, bucketing or using a 'slip on' hose to catch the rinse from a big washing day might do ... I put 100 litres on the lawn from one rince cycle with our machine set to maxi load (using a full load of course).

With other 'temperate' grass mixes.... no real easy solution. I'd get a few rolls of couch and divide it up and spot plant out the lawn. Let it spread.

[coastie]

Move to Bega no water restrictions there at all:D

[Doughboy]

No water restrictions because there is no water to restrict!!!

I am a native of Pambula and the valley is looking very dry.

Pete

[ozwinner]

Hey all,

I have recently (a few months ago) as part of my landscaping efforts put in two reasonably small area's of new turf with full automatic irrigation system,


What the hell were you thinking?
Farmers would kill to get any sort of growth in the paddock, and you dont want your lovely green grass to die? :confused:

Al :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

[JDub]

What the hell were you thinking?
Farmers would kill to get any sort of growth in the paddock, and you dont want your lovely green grass to die? :confused:

Al :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

Yer I know :rolleyes: SWMBO desperately wanted lawn, I convinced her to have areas half the size she wanted....

I am now seriously considering paving the front area and focus on saving the back lawn for the kids to play on etc...... :( not much cash lying around ATM to pay for 50m2 of good pavers though

Just seems such a waste of time and effort (and $) after I rotary hoed, dug in gypsum etc, installed top notch irrigation ( and dug trenches!), used good top soil, and laid great turf... and only 6 months ago (when there was no restrictions mind you) :mad:

[Bleedin Thumb]

Maybe you could offer your lawn out for agistment, that should keep Al happy.
The lawn looks lush enough for a dairy cow or two, I can see some permiculture thing happening here.
The upside is that once you get the cows you can apply for drought relief.

[pharmaboy2]

OK - stating the obvious, but to my understanding, new lawns can be watered in their first year (forobvious reasons). Secondly, you should only water a max of once a week anyway to encourage root growth. If watering to keep it green, then the roots will stay shallow and it'll die in the first week of hot weather. When watering (after its gone some brown in it) water once but very deeply - an all nighter water - this will encourage deeper root growth again.

Any lawn once a year old should easily cope with a drought - it wont look good, but it wont die. As for water, the first thing to do would be to make those downpipes go out onto the lawn - the catchment area of half a roof will turn a 10 minute storm into am equivalent hour of rain for the lawn.

[Studley 2436]

something I did last year was to mulch the lawn from my DC unit. Stuck on heaps of sawdust and woodchip from the jointer. Waw a help as it kept the water in and broke down to help the water get into the lawn.

The other good tip is not to mow it short, let it grow longer to reduce evaporation

Studley

[Sturdee]

new lawns can be watered in their first year (forobvious reasons).

Not here. If you buy the lawn from an instant turf place you can apply for a permit which allows you to water in the new lawn for a couple of month only. If you sow the lawn from seed it doesn't apply.

This is not for your benefit but to stop them having to pay compensation to the turf growers.


Peter.

[JDub]

OK - stating the obvious, but to my understanding, new lawns can be watered in their first year (forobvious reasons). Secondly, you should only water a max of once a week anyway to encourage root growth. If watering to keep it green, then the roots will stay shallow and it'll die in the first week of hot weather. When watering (after its gone some brown in it) water once but very deeply - an all nighter water - this will encourage deeper root growth again.


As Sturdee says, Unfort the permits only apply for the first month or two after laying the turf, I understand re: deep watering once a week, not cutting short etc etc all of which I am doing :), and it is obviously working because my lawn is very healthy months after laying it in very hot weather......
still if it doesnt rain once a week to give it that once a week 'deep water', it doesnt help much if I cant water it myself ;)

I am going to try and rig up a cheap grey water system for the short term, It may work, it may not, its worth a shot though right?

when I can afford it I may look at larger rain water tanks for my garden irrigation system.

BTW the lawn is tall fescue and kentucky bluegrass (canberra blend) from canturf for those that were asking.
Gotta feel sorry for the turf mobs, they must be hurting.

[Clinton1]

tall fescue and kentucky bluegrass


There's your problem... when it is hot it will need a lot of watering, although the Kentucky bluegrass bounces back pretty well.

Seriously, when it is cooler - scatter some couch or buffalo around the front, it will spread and save the water for the back lawn.

[Christopha]

Another thing which may help is to use a good soil wetting agent, this will make sure that the water you do use doesn't just sit near the surface but penetrates deeper thus making sure your lawns roots head downwards as well. Deep rooted plants are more likely to survive the big dry. As for Pharmaboys' "All nighter", I fear that this is a real water waster and by the SA rules, illegal.... I don't know about yours over there.

[Bleedin Thumb]

JDub your trying to save your turf - I'm trying to eliminate mine.

Not because of the drought, I'm as water conscious as anyone - hey I even have my pet aquarium fish on half rations, no I am just really lazy and hate mowing.:o

Infact I hire a mowing guy to come and do ours..he's the most unreliable bloke I've ever met ....been once since last year ....lost one of the kids last week..:eek:

Anyway I recon that lawn is way overrated, gardens are supossed to be for relaxing in, not working in.

So sit back, chill out and watch the grass die.:cool:

[masoth]

.... and be sure to lift the mowing height. Tall grass = deep roots = less watering. You can mow more often to keep the lawn looking OK.

[ozwinner]

Anyway I recon that lawn is way overrated, gardens are supossed to be for relaxing in, not working in.

So sit back, chill out and watch the grass die.:cool:


Same here, we have about 6sqM of grass that is ours, and is going as soon as we get around to putting gravel down.

Al :p

[dazzler]

Hi JDUB

This is my experience of 4 lawns in canberra. One of the problems I found was the clay and limestone rock that serves as soil in canberra.

The best lawn I ever had in jerrabomberra was done like this;

1. Rotary hoe to at least 4inches. This may include using a kanga jackhammer or similar to break it up first. Rake smooth, dont roll.

2. Go to corkhills and get some of thier vegie mix soil. Lay this to at least the thickness of a brick laid on its side. (4"?)Rake smooth, dont roll.

3. Lay your turf lightly on top, sprinkle more vegie mix to fill the little gaps.

4. Dont walk or let anyone on it for a month.

This is how I did my most successful lawn and once established it looked after itself with only a light watering. The roots were amazing and the soil acts as a sponge.

Normally in canberra most companies that lay turf will at best rotory hoe and normally just spread the thinest layer of crap soil and level it then lay the turf. What happens is the when you water or it rains the water goes straight to the roots and effectively hits concrete soil and runs away.

If you have only just had it laid it may still come back up otherwise you will need to hire a turf cutter and lift it again.

A lot of work but it is the best method for canberra. Sadly, if it has been laid on a little soil then nothing you do will save it. :(

cheers

dazzler

good luck

[pharmaboy2]

Another thing which may help is to use a good soil wetting agent, this will make sure that the water you do use doesn't just sit near the surface but penetrates deeper thus making sure your lawns roots head downwards as well. Deep rooted plants are more likely to survive the big dry. As for Pharmaboys' "All nighter", I fear that this is a real water waster and by the SA rules, illegal.... I don't know about yours over there.

Unfortunately Christopha, i have no doubt you are correct - The classic example of this is the restriction where you can water by hand held hose, but not use a sprinkler - pretty obviously, using say a sprinkler at night is going to deliver more water to where its needed than a hand held hose, and secondly the hose method will be short in duration and so require more water over the long term. Another example of why better information and teaching people "how" to be waterwise is a better outcome than the beaurocratic solution of rules and laws that are first and foremost easiest to enforce.

fortunately, I happen to live in one of those places that hasnt had water restrictions for a couple fo decades, and probably not coincidently, is also the most recnt catchment area to approve a new dam some weeks ago (Hunter Valley) - maybe thats the reason we dont have a shortage (forward planning?)

[Coldamus]

Total waste of water. I have never watered my lawn, yet there is no discernable difference between it and the neighbours'. At my previous place, I used to watch the fellow across the street standing out in the rain holding an umbrella while he hosed the garden. Madness!

[JDub]

A lot of work but it is the best method for canberra. Sadly, if it has been laid on a little soil then nothing you do will save it. :(


Dazz (and others),
Thanks for the long reply, however I think you need to read the thread ;)

The lawn is fine, its healthy and green, it was prepared well and is going great ATM. :) :rolleyes:

This thread/question was originally asking the best way to water lawn using grey water or tank water since water restrictions will soon not allow use of potable water/sprinklers on lawns.:rolleyes:

Good read for those wanting to know how to prepare and care for a lawn though:p

Going to check out Doughboys simple grey water set up on the weekend :)

[Stringy]

JDub,

Set up a cheap diversion system for Shwr, bth and sink as well as laundary. We have just gone to a new bin system in Mus so the ones used are surplus to those that could be found sitting on the footpath.

When water restrictions are finished :( , the diversions will stay. I have buffalo and it loves the soapes etc and we use napisan a couple of times a week with no probs on the lawn. I have been told not to let the grey water near native plants.

hose from the bins is 19mm poly, under $3 for 20m. I give the bathroom bin a rinse out on the lawn every 2weeks as it dose start to smell.

Laundary.

35373

Bathroom.

35375

[JDub]

Thanks for the pics stringy, :)

Looks very similar to what I am planning..... ;)

How are you distributing the water from the hose (poly) outlet of the drums/bins to the garden/lawn? Gravity or pump?

[Stringy]

It's all downhill for me, the hose is poked into the side of the drum no sealant required as the hole is slightly smaller than the poly, about half way up this gives a little more height and enough head to handle the washing machine/bath dump without overflowing.

pumping it up to your front lawn without it costing a bomb is another issue, wife + bucket:D . You could suggest that it is a new expensive exercise regime;) .

[dazzler]

Hi JDub

Sorry I should have made my message a little clearer.

If you have not done this or very similar;


1. Rotary hoe to at least 4inches. This may include using a kanga jackhammer or similar to break it up first. Rake smooth, dont roll.

2. Go to corkhills and get some of thier vegie mix soil. Lay this to at least the thickness of a brick laid on its side. (4"?)Rake smooth, dont roll.

Then no matter what you do you will struggle once the lawn gets on a bit.

Consider this advice a sidetrack..:D

Aeration / dethatching is also a really good idea so that the water that you do use doesnt just run off. Once it is aerated top dress with sand so that the holes dont fill up again with soil.

Best of luck with the canberra summer, hope it doesnt get too hot.

[reybec]

we're in the same boat except we're now on level 4 restrictions.

we planted 2 small areas of turf complete with irrigation but as we can only bucket water between certain hours the lawn suffered and died.

but the weeds are flourishing in its place
don't the weeds need water also?:confused:

[Shedhand]

Watering lawns is a total waste of resources. We let ours brown off over summer. It greens up when the winter rains come. We only hand water our garden which is mostly native plants anyway. Whatever grass we have was here when we bought the place so I have no idee what breed it is. If you insist on watering the lawn at least put a sheep on it that way you can butcher it and get something useful out of something useless (lawn). :D

[Simomatra]

we're in the same boat except we're now on level 4 restrictions.

we planted 2 small areas of turf complete with irrigation but as we can only bucket water between certain hours the lawn suffered and died.

but the weeds are flourishing in its place
don't the weeds need water also?:confused:

I can vouch for that. We have all but lost all the lawn and most of my Azaleas etc.

Now it has rained some the lwan grub is tyring to destroy the last roots of lawn I have.

A tank has been ordered but there is a long delay. Using the grey sytem to save some of the plants

Praying for more rain

[corbs]

Timely thread for me. I will be building out at Bungendore next year and have been looking into grey water systems and there is some good reading here. The link below goes to a fact sheet on grey water use from the ACT govt. I am planning on an underground soaker irrigation system for the new place and was interested in how to go about it. More research to do but will be keeping an eye on this thread.

http://www.health.act.gov.au/c/health?a=sendfile&ft=p&fid=1103672000&sid=


Corbs

[atregent]

I was shocked to learn that my washing machine uses about 150-200l per load, so I did a bit of digging to find out about grey water usage.

I found a fantastic thing that processes and stores grey water so that you can use it whenever and wherever you want. Better than a rain water tank, they only work if it rains!

Check out http://www.perpetualwater.com.au. I thought it was the answer to my prayers, until I found out it costs about $15k....

[rapapa]

Use of greywater is great. If you are going to do the lawn you may as well plumb up to your trees and shrubs also. We have been on level 4 for a while so we aren't allowed to water at all. The only thing I would add is you check out site http://www.lanfaxlabs.com.au/ for a list of friendly soaps that will be ok for natives etc. Also our local council offers a 'Water Bank' scheme where you buy extra water from town water and they then use that money to ship in water from another source to replenish the amount you have used.

[Tekskelator]

nice lawn. We put down Sir Walter buffalo 2 years ago. I have no problem keeping it green with minimal watering (once per fortnight atm)

We have that Canberra blend stuff in the front yard, and its near impossible to keep green atm.

My advice is to consider the type of turf you are putting in before having to go to the expense of alterntive watering methods later.

But hey, its only my opinon. Best of luck with your quest.

[SilentButDeadly]

We used to have very similar set-up to Stringy's......just for the washing machine mind you. WM pipe went out through the window and discharged into a plastic rubbish bin sitting on a couple of concrete blocks. A thru hull fitting from the boat shop in the bottom of the bin was connected to 15m of 1" poly pipe - water drained out onto the lawn via gravity. The bin never overflowed despite there being no lint filter on it.......worked just fine.

Don't do it any longer due to different house and better washing machine - we now have a front loader which uses less than half of what the top loader did.

It amuses me that these fancy grey water systems often cost more than a plain old septic or biocycle style system........which has to deal with real grubby water. Some-one is seeing you city people coming!!!!

[Bec]

Our shower drains out strait onto the lawn. We have various hose lengths we can attach and move around so we don't get get just one lush green spot. No affect from shampoos and soaps that we can see. We also let the washing machine run off straight onto the lawn. We used some black irrigation hosing with a cheap sprinkler at the end to spread the water about. Gives the birds a bit of a shock with all of a sudden water comes squirting out. We found the sprinkler attachment wasn't good for the shower run off though as there wasn't enough pressue for it to work effectively which resulted in the water backing up in the shower. We have a nice green lawn.:)

[JDub]

Update: In December I rigged up a simple gravity fed greywater system where every drop from the showers runs onto the front lawn...
Its simply PVC under the house and converts to black flex pipe once it gets outside...

like bec I move the house around daily to ensure the water is spread out evenly...
My lawn is still nice and green as in the previous pics :D

If water restrictions go up again I will have to work out something a little more elaborate to do the back lawn as its (unlike the front lawn) uphill :rolleyes:

What are peoples thoughts on the grey water pump such as these ones?

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/GREY-WATER-PUMP-RECYCLE-YOUR-WATER_W0QQitemZ320072798846QQihZ011QQcategoryZ46412QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Joel

[Big Shed]

like bec I move the house around daily to ensure the water is spread out evenly...

Joel

Seems a lot of effort to go to to save a bit of water:D

[jimc]

Grey water is fantastic as long as you do not poisen your garden with additional salt of phosphrus that will kill native vegetation.

Check out http://www.lanfaxlabs.com.au/laundry.htm (http://www.lanfaxlabs.com.au/laundry.htm) for washing machine detergent details. We will stop using Omomatic now I know most of it is filler.

cheers

[Crumden]

nice lawn. We put down Sir Walter buffalo 2 years ago. I have no problem keeping it green with minimal watering (once per fortnight atm)

We have that Canberra blend stuff in the front yard, and its near impossible to keep green atm.

My advice is to consider the type of turf you are putting in before having to go to the expense of alterntive watering methods later.

But hey, its only my opinon. Best of luck with your quest.
How do you find the Sir Walter goes in winter, Tekskelator? I'm thinking of putting some in once the restrictions ease up a bit, but I've seen some that has yellowed off completely once the frosts hit.



At the moment I'm trying to work out whether I could establish a new lawn during restrictions at the same time as trying to work out how to deal with surface water flooding from all the recent storms .:doh:

[dazzler]

Try oversowing with oats. They establish fast, aerate the soil, protect the young turf from heavy sun and seeing as you keep mowing them (very high setting) they dont seed and rot away after the season.

A boorowa farmer taught me this and was how they got grass to grow on new dam walls and such in the heat.