Changes Made To The Way Moorestown Residents Can Water Their Lawn

Moorestown, NJ -- New rules concerning how Moorestown residents are permitted to water their lawn will soon be taking effect.

Moorestown Council unanimously approved a proposed ordinance on final reading that creates four districts that match the districts used for trash collection during its meeting Monday night at town hall.

Watering would be permitted in the following districts on the following days:

• District 1: Sunday and Wednesday
• District 2: Monday and Thursday
• District 3: Monday and Thursday
• District 4: Tuesday and Friday

Watering will only be permitted 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Township Manager Scott Carew said that everyone will get two days to water their lawn on the recommendation of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), meaning there will be one day without anyone being permitted to water their lawns.

Because the township is using its trash collection schedule, and because it’s easier to enforce rules during the week than it is during the weekend, that day is Saturday.

Flowers and shrubs may be watered as needed with a hand-held hose equipped with an automatic shut-off nozzle, but no hose or hose-end watering shall be permitted when it is raining.

Vehicles may be washed any day with a handheld hose equipped with an automatic shut-off nozzle.

Automatic rain sensor devices are required for all sprinkler and/or irrigation systems to ensure that watering does not occur during periods of rain or immediately after a quarter inch of rain has fallen.

Moorestown resident Ed Bague told council he hopes this is the start of a larger effort by Moorestown to conserve water. He said he hopes the effort extends to:

• “low flow water devices” in kitchens and bathrooms;
• xeriscaping, which reduces or eliminates the need for supplemental water from irrigation in landscaping and gardening; and
• the reuse of “gently used water” from bathroom showers, sinks, bathtubs and washing machines, known as greywater reuse.

“Greywater is a new concept in New Jersey,” said Solicitor Anthony Drollas, who said there are strict guidelines from NJDEP concerning its use.

Bague questioned some of the exemptions, including that of outdoor water use from private wells. “Private wells can be installed and used without limit, but you do have to get approval from DEP first,” Drollas said, adding that the recommendation came from NJDEP itself.

Bague also said he’d like to see some specificity concerning certain exemptions, including on the private wells, as well as:

• Outdoor water use for agricultural use, commercial farms producing harvestable crops, commercial nurseries, sod farms and golf courses;
• Visually supervised operation of an irrigation system (by a person in compliance with the New Jersey Landscape Irrigation Contractor 4 Certification Act of 1991) at the minimum rate necessary in order to check system condition and effectiveness; and
• Any EPA or NJDEP rule, regulation or declaration, which is more stringent than the provisions herein, shall supersede.

Other exemptions include:

• Outdoor irrigation necessary for one day only where treatment with an application of chemicals require immediate watering to preserve an existing landscape or to establish a new landscape;
• Outdoor irrigation necessary for the establishment of newly sodded or seeded lawns or landscaping within the first 21 consecutive days of planting; and
• Any Declaration of a Water Emergency by the Township Manager and the provisions set forth in same shall supersede.

The changes are the result of an Administrative Consent Order (ACO) issued by NJDEP and approved by council on July 1, calling for the township to alter the way it imposes restrictions on water use by residents.

Moorestown will post something on its website immediately, and push out more information the closer it gets to the spring, to ensure all residents are aware of the changes.

Patch file photo