• Commitment: to mastering complex issues, to putting in long hours.
• Understanding: why you're on the board and what being a public figure means.
• Experience: jobs, working with and listening to people.
• Tolerance: of different points of view (sometimes vividly or angrily expressed), and of people who are different from you.
• Responsibility: for making sound financial and legal decisions that affect the direction of the Corporation.

GET A GRIP ON WATER BILLS

It wasn't too long ago area lakes were running on half-empty and water restrictions were in full force. Although the rains have come and restrictions have been lifted, this is no time to become indifferent about water conservation. Heating costs may be of greater concern now but higher water bills are only a few months away.

Water rates differ from one community to another due to a variety of costs associated with its production and distribution. Water bills vary even more though, from one customer to the next, due to difference in consumption rates. Household water use doesn't change much from one season to the next but the amount of landscape irrigation water sure does. Last year, well over half the domestic water supply was used to irrigate landscapes. Some households used as much as 80% of their water for irrigation.

There is little doubt water rates will continue to rise. The only question is how high your own water bills will go and that depends on you. How your landscape is set up determines in large measure how much water it demands. If your water bills are eating into your lunch money, your landscape might need a tune-up.

Five things determine the amount of water your landscape needs. The soil, the plants, the design, the management, and the weather. You can't help the weather but the rest is up to you. The more you are willing to change in your landscape the more drought resistant your landscape can become. You may not be able to transform your landscape overnight but just taking a few steps each year will move you in the right direction.

Things you can do to conserve water in the landscape include: improving soil conditions to increase rainfall capture and encourage deeper rooting, reducing the area dedicated to turf, covering more ground with hardscaping materials such as pavers and flagstone, sowing drought hardy native and adapted plants, mulching plants to keep the roots cool and the soil moist, using drip irrigation for everything except turf, keeping your irrigation system calibrated and in good repair, learning when to water and knowing how much to use in each application.

Flowers and potted plants use more water than any other kinds of plants. Restrict them to strategically-located focal points for the greatest impact and use native wildflowers in your floral planting schemes whenever possible.

Shade trees play a vital role in landscape water conservation. Trees cool the entire year, reducing evaporation losses from the shaded ground and reducing transpiration losses from the shaded plants. Lower light intensities further calm the plants, reducing respiration rates and consequently, transpiration rates as well. Plant the right trees and they will serve for generations.

ATTENTION NEW HOME BUYERS

Did your new home come with a completely sodded, landscaped yard and irrigation system? If so, there is a very good chance that the on/off times for your irrigation system were set by the irrigation contractor.

Since irrigators/landscapers want to prevent new plant loss due to lack of water they typically set new irrigation systems to "over water" new landscapes believing this will help them get established. As a result, it is not uncommon to find new irrigation systems set to operate with such frequency that they consume as much as 2,000-3,000 gallons of water per day/every day. Larger landscaped areas can use even greater quantities of water.

If these settings are not changed, water is wasted, the plants do not benefit, and you the new homeowner get a wake up call when your first water bill arrives.

So……. when you move in make it a point to contact the builder for the irrigators name. Set up an appointment and have them come out and show you how your system is set. In fact, have them run it thru a complete cycle, taking a water meter reading before and after. Multiply this consumption by the number of times per day the system is set to operate and you can see how much water you will be using. You can call the BWSC office and we can tell you how much that number of gallons will cost.

Remember, it's up to you. If you don't look into the fine points of operation of your irrigation system, what could be a useful maintenance tool may turn into a water-guzzling nightmare.

QUESTIONS?

Individual homeowners, homeowners associations, Town Councils….. please contact our office at 817-430-3541 if you would like more information on irrigation, conservation, etc. and would like someone from BWSC to attend one of your upcoming meetings.

  TO DO!

If you haven't already, now is a great time to have your irrigation system thoroughly checked out for leaks, faulty heads, etc. Losses from these systems are not only costly but wasteful as well. Unattended hoses can also account for large water losses. Believe it our not, a 1/2" hose has a flow rate of 600 gallons per hour and a 5/8" hose has a flow rate of 1000 g.p.h. If left running overnight a hose could waste as much as 5,000 gallons in an 8 to 10 hour period.

The Argyle Volunteer Fire District and The Double Oak Volunteer Fire District are in need of additional volunteers.

For more information and explanations, please call:

Fire Chief: James Price (817) 430-1116 AVFD
Fire Hall: (817) 430-0013 DOVFD

MAIL DELIVERY PROBLEMS

We are receiving a number of customer complaints regarding the failure of the postal service to deliver Bartonville Water Supply Corporation's water bills or the receipt of customer's water payments in a timely manner. Bartonville Water Supply Corporation mails its water bills directly from the Lewisville Post Office regularly each month between the 20th and 24th. If you do not receive a bill by the first of any month, it is your responsibility to notify the BWSC office since we can only assume that your water bill has been delivered by the Post Office. All bills are due on the 8th of each month. Any payment not received on or before the 8th, is charged a penalty. For your convenience, Bartonville Water Supply Corporation offers monthly bank draft and preauthorized credit card payments. Please call or stop by the office for these forms.

Use the back button on your browser to return to the index or go to the Home Page.