The City Code 13.16.205 establishes regulations for outdoor water use year round. Even-numbered addresses may water on even-numbered days, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Odd-numbered addresses may water on odd-numbered days during the same times. Sprinkling is prohibited citywide 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Following are some links to other web sites that contain information on water quality. You may find these links convenient and helpful when researching water quality. The City cannot guarantee or certify the accuracy or content on these sites, and we make no recommendations as to the quality of the information.
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Bureau of Water – http://www.epa.state.il.us/water
The City monitors the water hardness of its wells in order to help residents determine the proper settings for water softeners. Residents may check the specific level of hardness on the Water Hardness Map. The hardness levels indicated on this map are generalized according to the well with the hardest water servicing each area, which is a worst-case scenario. Exact water hardness may vary. Below is a detailed explanation of water hardness.
Trees grow best when soils are moist to a depth of six inches. As a rule of thumb, it takes one inch of water to wet six inches of soil. Most of our soils have a lot of clay so they are very slow to absorb water (0.1 to 0.25 inches per hour). Contrary to popular belief, running the sprinkler system on your lawn won’t give your trees the water they need. It’s best to take a drip or soaker hose and coil it under the drip line of the tree. Turn the hose on and let it run for 20-30 minutes.
Winter brings with it extreme cold temperatures and with low temperatures come frozen pipes.
Each winter the St. Charles Water Division answers dozens of calls for frozen pipes. These calls range from simply no water, to commercial fire services that have burst and are leaking upwards of 2000 gallons per minute. Although it does happen rarely, virtually none of these calls are due to the City's pipes being frozen.
That being said, here are some simple steps you can take to avoid this happening on your premises.
Prevent Flooding - Homeowners can help themselves and avoid messy problems by remembering to take some simple steps to help prevent flooding.
Water usage increases dramatically during summer’s dry weather when lawn-sprinkling demand occurs. To ensure that outdoor watering is effective and efficient, lawn sprinkling is regulated by City Code, Section 13.16.205. Other things you can do to conserve water and save money are:
The City of St. Charles is flushing hydrants beginning April 1 and continuing through May 3. Please note that hydrant flushing could temporarily cause water discoloration, even for homes outside the particular flushing area. The discoloration is caused by minerals that get stirred up in the water mains.
