MAY/JUNE 2016: ON TAP

LOUDOUN WATER

www.loudounwater.org 44865 Loudoun Water Way Ashburn, VA 20147

ON TAP MAY/JUNE 2016

MAY 1-7, 2016 IS DRINKING WATER WEEK! Loudoun Water is celebrating Drinking Water Week! This week presents a unique opportunity for both water professionals and the communities they serve to join together in recognizing the vital role that water plays in our daily lives!

Loudoun Water’s interactive exhibit, the Aquiary, sees hundreds of visitors per year allowing local community groups and children the opportunity to gain a better understanding about where their water comes from and how it is treated. Visitors often remark about how they never thought about all of the work, coordination and time it takes to get clean drinking water to their taps.

Loudoun Water publishes annual consumer confidence water quality reports each year as a requirement under the Safe Drinking Water Act. These reports provide information about where your water comes from, what’s added, how it is treated, tests that are performed, information on fluoride, and quality evaluation. We encourage you to read through them and contact our Customer Relations team with any questions you may have at 571-291-7880.

The more everyone knows about their drinking water, where it comes from and how it’s treated, the better off we are as a community.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR LW CONNECT? There are over 16,000 customers who have already signed up for LW Connect, our online self-service customer portal. LW Connect makes it easy to view your bill online, enroll in Auto Debit, sign up for eBilling, see your payment history and more! Go to www.loudounwater.org and click on the LW Connect logo to get started.

Have a question? Call our Customer Relations team for more information at 571-291-7880, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (If you sign up for Auto Debit please note you must also enroll in eBilling if you’d like to avoid paper statements altogether.

HAS YOUR IRRIGATION SYSTEM BEEN TESTED? Did you know that pools and underground irrigation systems have a device called a backflow preventer that helps protect a customer’s water from possible

BACKFLOW PREVENTERS MUST BE TESTED ANNUALLY. contaminants? Without backflow prevention, fertilizers, feces or other hazardous materials near sprinkler heads can be pulled directly into the water system.

According to state and federal regulations, all properties with an irrigation system must be tested annually by a certified backflow tester in order to protect public health.

Tests area available on our website at www. loudounwater.org/ irrigation. Once the test has been completed by a certified tester, Loudoun Water must receive the test results within 15 days.

Have questions about backflow prevention?

Call our Customer Relations team at 571291-7880.

OPTIMIZE YOUR WATERING SCHEDULE Irrigation and landscape experts recommend watering every three days for healthy green plants and grass. Too much watering prevents root growth, promotes mold and wastes water.

Loudoun Water recommends the watering schedule below to promote healthy plants and turf. This watering schedule also spreads out the water demand on our system.

• Odd home addresses:

Wednesday and Saturday

• Even home addresses:

Thursday and Sunday Water your yard before 10:00 a.m. or after 4:00 p.m. to avoid excess evaporation. This can cut down on your yard’s watering needs, which conserves water and saves money.

THREE REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD USE MULCH AROUND YOUR PLANTS While you plan your landscaping this year, consider the benefits of putting mulch around your plants. Mulch is a layer of material that is typically woodchips or rubber. It benefits your garden and helps to cut down on watering.

1. Mulch prevents erosion Mulch provides a barrier between elements like wind and rain that protects the soil below.

Erosion can also deplete nutrients from soil while plants need in order to thrive. Mulch helps to prevent erosion as well as providing nutrients for the soil as it breaks down over time.

2. Mulch slows evaporation Mulch also provides a barrier between direct sunlight and your plant’s roots which helps to slow the evaporation process. This allows plants a longer opportunity to get more water needed to grow.

3. Mulch prevents weed growth Weeds can grow quickly, using the water plants need for healthy growth.

Adding mulch to a flowerbed helps to prevent weed growth that requires extra work to remove.

CALL BEFORE YOU DIG Thinking of digging on your property? Miss Utility is your partner when it comes to safe digging! Miss Utility is a free one-call notification center that informs subscribing facilities and utilities, like Loudoun Water, of proposed excavation. Â If you plan on any type of excavation or digging on your property, make a request by visiting the Miss Utility website or by calling 811 or 1-800-552-7001.

Virginia law requires utilities or their contract locators to mark the approximate horizontal location of their underground utilities within 48 hours beginning the next business day after you call 811. If you are planning to do work in your yard on Saturday, call 811 no later than Tuesday so that your utilities can be marked.

EASY CONSERVATION: PROPER MOWING While it may require more frequent mowings, grass kept at a proper height helps your lawn develop a deeper root system. When grass has strong roots, it is able to withstand the elements - wear and tear, wind and heat.

During a drought, taller grass provides shade to the soil which keeps it cooler. Check with a local nursery or landscaper about the proper height for the type of grass you have in your yard.

LET IT GROW! Raising your mower’s height to 1.5 to 2 inches allows grass to shade roots and hold soil moisture better.

VISIT OUR TRAILS As the weather warms up, Loudoun Water invites you to explore the trails on our Ashburn campus, which are open from dawn until dusk every day. As a part of our Aquiary exhibit, an extensive trail and boardwalk system leads visitors through the outdoor interpretive area. There are 12 interpretive stations, designed to educate visitors about specific area and their relation to water and the environment.

Stations include information about wetlands, bioretention basins, outfalls and overlooks. Trails begin at our entry fountain, which is one of two outfalls from the Broad Run Water Reclamation Facility. This outfall includes six runnels, which see as much as 600 gallons of water per minute flow through before spilling into a series of man-made plunge pools that resemble natural stream channels.

Stormwater from almost a half-acre of impervious surface at the Water Reclamation Facility drains towards a bioretention basin. Headwaters from this stream are the second and major outfall from the Water Reclamation Facility. The constructed stream returns filtered water back into the environment via the Broad Run.

UPCOMING EVENTS May 1- 7 Drinking Water Week Friday, May 6 Smithsonian Garden Fest May 16 – 23 Infrastructure Week Friday, May 20 Bike to Work Day Monday, May 30 CLOSED - Memorial Day

HYDRANT FLUSHING UPDATE Hydrant flushing started in late March and is scheduled to run through the beginning of June. Loudoun Water and other water utilities around the country flush hydrants each year to clear sediment from the lines, monitor our system and ensure high standards of water quality. To see when crews will be in your area, follow us on Twitter @loudounwater or check our website to see our hydrant flushing map.

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Loudoun Water attended a Girls in Technology event at hosted by Telos in April. Our team members shared information about our Potomac Water Supply Program as well as watersheds.

Interested in having Loudoun Water come to one of your events? Email us at aquiary@loudounwater.org.