Why Is My Water Bill So High? Check Your Sprinkler System First
If you’ve opened a summer water bill in Denver and done a double take, you’re not alone. With Denver Water currently under Stage 1 drought restrictions—limiting outdoor watering to two assigned days per week—a high water bill in Denver this summer is often a red flag that something in your sprinkler system isn’t working the way it should.
The good news: most of the problems that silently run up your bill are small and fixable. Here’s where to look first.
5 Sprinkler Problems That Are Quietly Draining Your Water Budget
Leaking or Broken Sprinkler Heads
A single broken sprinkler head can waste hundreds of gallons over the course of a watering season. Signs to watch for: wet spots in your yard on non-watering days, heads that spray sideways or spin in random directions, or water pooling near the base of a head long after the zone shuts off.
Under Denver Water’s current Stage 1 rules, visible water waste must be repaired within 10 days of being reported. A second violation costs $250, a third runs $500, and a fourth reaches $1,000. Catching a broken head yourself is far cheaper than waiting for a neighbor to report it.
Overspray Hitting Driveways, Sidewalks, or Streets
Walk your yard while the system is running. Are any heads throwing water onto pavement? Overspray is one of the most common ways residential irrigation wastes water. A fixed spray head angled slightly off can throw a third of its output onto pavement instead of your lawn.
In neighborhoods like Highlands Ranch or Centennial, overspray is easy to overlook until the water bill arrives. Adjusting the arc or range on most heads takes under five minutes.
Watering at the Wrong Time of Day
Denver Water’s Stage 1 restrictions allow outdoor watering only before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m. If your controller is programmed to run zones mid-day, you’re not just risking a violation—you’re losing a significant portion of that water to evaporation before it ever soaks into the soil. On a hot July afternoon in Denver, midday heat can gut your irrigation efficiency.
Pull up your controller schedule and confirm every zone starts and finishes within the allowed windows. If the programming looks correct but your bill is still high, check whether a power outage reset your clock (more on that below).
Run Times That Haven’t Been Updated for the Season
Many homeowners program their irrigation schedule in spring and leave it alone all summer. But grass in the Denver metro—mostly cool-season turf like Kentucky bluegrass and turf fescue—needs different amounts of water at different points in the season. Water demand peaks in late July and early August, then drops as days shorten into September.
A quick way to check how much water each zone is actually applying: place several straight-sided containers (tuna cans work perfectly) in the zone, run it for 15 minutes, and measure the depth that collects. Most cool-season lawns on the Front Range need about 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week during peak summer heat. If your zones are running well above that, trimming the run time is free and takes two minutes at the controller.
A Controller Clock That Got Reset by a Power Outage
Front Range thunderstorms can knock out power and reset your irrigation controller clock to 12:00 a.m. If that happens, a zone you programmed to run at 5:00 a.m. might now be firing at 5:00 p.m.—right in the restricted window, and during the hottest, most evaporation-prone part of the day. After any outage this summer, check your controller clock and verify your full program is still intact.
How to Walk Your System in 20 Minutes
You don’t need any tools or special knowledge to catch most sprinkler problems. Run each zone manually from your controller for two to three minutes and walk the area while it’s running. You’re looking for:
Heads that are tilted, sunken, or cracked
Water pooling at the base of a head after the zone shuts off
Dry patches that don’t seem to be getting any coverage
Spray landing on pavement, walls, or fencing
Heads that stay raised after the zone turns off
If you spot something that doesn’t look right, a short video on your phone is usually enough for an irrigation technician to diagnose the problem remotely and give you an accurate estimate before driving out.
When a Professional Tune-Up Makes More Sense Than DIY
Some fixes—clearing a clogged nozzle, adjusting a spray arc, resetting a controller clock—are genuinely easy to handle yourself. But if you find several issues at once, if your system is more than five or six years old and has never been professionally inspected, or if your bill is high and you simply can’t find the cause, a professional efficiency tune-up is worth the call.
A technician will run every zone, check head output and coverage patterns, inspect valves and the backflow preventer, and recalibrate run times for current conditions and your specific turf type. In a drought year—when water is both expensive and restricted—a properly tuned system often pays for itself within a couple of billing cycles.
A high water bill in Denver this summer is a signal worth following up on. Walk your sprinkler system, check your controller schedule, and look for the five problems above—most of them are fast fixes that cost little or nothing to address. With Stage 1 drought restrictions in effect and fines for visible water waste, there’s no better time to make sure your irrigation system is doing its job efficiently.
FAQ
How do I know if my sprinkler system is wasting water?
The clearest sign is a higher-than-expected water bill with no obvious explanation. Walk your yard while each zone runs and look for spray hitting pavement, heads not popping up fully, water pooling near heads between watering days, or dry spots that suggest uneven coverage. Any of those is worth investigating.
What are Denver Water’s fines for wasting water under Stage 1 drought restrictions?
First offense results in a warning. A second violation is $250, a third is $500, and a fourth is $1,000. Denver Water also requires customers to repair a leaking or wasteful sprinkler system within 10 days of being notified.
How often should I have my sprinkler system professionally inspected?
Once a year is a solid baseline for most residential systems—ideally at spring activation, when a technician can catch freeze damage from winter before you start relying on the system again. If you’re noticing recurring problems or high bills, a mid-season tune-up is also worth scheduling.
Can I water my trees and garden beds every day during Stage 1?
Yes. Denver Water’s Stage 1 rules allow trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and vegetables to be watered any day as long as you use a hand-held hose or a low-volume, non-spray system like drip irrigation. The two-day-per-week restriction applies specifically to spray and rotor zones covering turf areas.
If your water bill has you wondering what’s happening out in the yard, Apex Irrigation serves Denver, Highlands Ranch, Centennial, and neighborhoods all across the Front Range—reach out and we’ll take a look. We offer sprinkler repairs, efficiency tune-ups, and seasonal check-ins to help your system work smarter, not harder.
