MUD 18 Newsletter
January – March 2022
Holiday Trash Service
Waste Management will follow the normal pick up schedule as Christmas and New Year’s fall on a Saturday this year.
Sign up for Alert Notifications
On the MUD 18 website home page on the right side is a link to sign up for emergency alerts. You can sign up for email alerts, text alerts or both. We urge all customers to sign up. This newsletter will be sent out via the POA E-blast, the MUD 18 E-blast and as an attachment to the monthly water bill. If you do not receive this newsletter via the MUD 18 email you will know you are not registered. We want to make sure all our customers can be notified in case of emergency, so please sign up. Also, please bookmark our website (http://www.mcmud18.com) as most questions about water, sewer and trash pickup are answered there. Your address will not be shared with anyone else. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Winter storms: Tips for Preparing Your House and Pipes
Since each home is different use these tips as a guide and do what is best for your home.
- Know your insurance coverages
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- Burst pipes: Ask your agent if your home or renter’s policy covers sudden and accidental water damage. This coverage pays for damage from burst pipes. Flood insurance doesn’t pay for damage caused by burst pipes.
- Home and renter’s policies might not pay for damages caused by frozen pipes if you didn’t take steps to protect your pipes, such as keeping the heater on in your house.
- Food spoilage: If the food in your refrigerator spoils because of a power failure caused by something your policy covers, your policy should pay up to $500 to replace your food. And often there’s no deductible. Take pictures and keep a list of spoiled food.
- Prepare days before a freeze
- Wrap outdoor pipes as well as indoor pipes in unheated areas (like a clothes washer in your garage).
- Drain indoor house fire sprinklers.
- Remove water hoses and wrap outdoor pipes.
- Drain and turn off your lawn sprinkler system.
- Turn off the water to your clothes washer if it’s in an unheated garage.
- Store your lawn equipment in a garage or shed to keep them in good condition for next year. Drain the gas.
- If you leave your house before a freeze, turn off the water at the shutoff valve and leave your heat on.
- Wrap tender plants but be sure to unwrap them promptly once the freeze is over.
- During the freeze
- Protect your pipes when it freezes:
- Let faucets drip from the cold and hot taps.
- Open cabinets under sinks to let your house’s heat warm the pipes.
- If your pipes freeze, turn off the water at the shutoff valve. This prevents broken pipes from leaking into your house after they thaw.
- Protect your pipes when it freezes:
General Property Watering Guidelines
Proper watering is critical to your lawn’s health and vigor. Deep and infrequent watering is the best practice. This means wetting the soil to a depth of 3‐5 inches per irrigation. This equates to 1 – 1.25 inches of water per week, split over several days. Your run times should be adjusted based on how dry your yard is. Winter watering should have run times 50% less than your summer run schedule.
Watering is most beneficial to your grass when done in the morning (5 a.m. to 10 a.m.) rather than afternoon or evening. Avoid overnight watering. Early morning watering allows the leaf blades to dry and reduces the risk of disease. Do not water every day or two. Frequent, short watering encourages shallow roots, unhealthy grass plants, and turf susceptible to drought and disease.
Let the turf determine watering frequency. Since heat, humidity and rainfall vary, it’s best to water at the first signs of stress, not on a predetermined schedule. As a note, St. Augustine turf has poor drought tolerance and requires irrigation to survive during our long hot summers.
Water newer flowers 3 to 4 times per week for no more than 5 minutes.
Keep the ground around new trees and shrubs moist initially using a soaker hose or drip but gradually back off after two weeks.
Recommended Lawn Watering Schedule
Here are some general lawn watering guidelines and tips:
Irrigation Spray Head Averages
Pop-up spray heads: 10 to 12 minutes 3 times per week = 1”
Rotary spray heads: 16 to 23 minutes 3 times per week = 1”
Seasonal Watering Recommendations
January & February – Rainfall is usually adequate.
Water if no rainfall for four weeks.
March, April & May
Water only once per week in the spring if less than one inch of rainfall occurs.
June, July, August & Early September
Water each section heavily at least twice a week if less than one inch of rainfall.
Late September & October — REDUCE WATERING FREQUENCY!
Early fall is Brown Patch Season and excess water triggers this disease. During September water only once per week if no rainfall and every two weeks in October if no rain.
November & December
Rainfall is usually adequate. Water if no rainfall for four weeks
Suggested Irrigation System Settings
Some irrigation timers have a seasonal adjustment setting that enables you to reduce or increase watering without changing zone settings. Suggested settings for our area:
November, December, January and February = 0%
March 50%
April 70%
May 80%
June 90%
July August 100%
September 70%
October 50%
MUD Meetings Open to the Public
Our regularly scheduled monthly meetings are the third Tuesday of the month at 9:30 a.m. in the Country Club Cypress Room. Meetings are open to the public. The agenda is posted on our web site and the message board in the breezeway entrance to the Country Club Grill near the Golf Pro-shop. Minutes from meetings are published on the MUD 18 web site.
Your MUD Board:
Susan McFarland, President
Lou Tichacek, Vice President
Gary Montgomery, Treasurer
Rex Cambern, Secretary
John Crystal, Assistant Secretary