Watering rules in the Triangle: check before you turn on the sprinkler

Start with the name on your water bill

Watering rules follow the utility serving the property. A mailing address is not enough, especially outside town limits. Check the bill, then use the official link for that utility. Wells and reclaimed water can have different rules.

This is a planning guide, not a live drought feed. Temporary restrictions can override the normal schedule and pause new-lawn exemptions. Recheck the utility page before installation and again if drought conditions change.

Raleigh Water and eastern Wake County

Raleigh Water serves Raleigh, Garner, Knightdale, Rolesville, Wendell, Zebulon, and many Wake Forest properties. Its normal conservation rules prohibit waste, including watering pavement, and do not use an odd/even schedule. Check the water-supply status and the conservation-stages page together. Do not assume new sod qualifies for an exemption during a drought stage.

Cary, Apex, and towns with their own schedules

Cary's normal alternate-day sprinkler schedule is Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday for even addresses, and Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday for odd addresses. Hand watering and drip irrigation are treated differently. Cary offers a registered exemption for qualifying new grass. Register it before you rely on it, and check current conditions first.

Apex's normal schedule is Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday for odd addresses and Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday for even addresses, with no lawn irrigation on Monday. Its New Landscape Permit can cover qualifying new lawns and does not cover overseeding an established lawn.

Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, and Clayton publish their own conservation schedules and permit rules. Use the town page for the property, not a neighboring town's rules.

Durham

Durham publishes the current stage on Durham Saves Water. Stages can suspend the normal odd/even schedule and pause new-landscape exemptions. Check that page before scheduling a lawn project. Do not treat an older summary as the current rule.

Before the sod delivery

Know the provider, the current stage, and whether a new-lawn permit is required. Then we can schedule installation around a watering plan the yard can actually follow. If the yard holds water, drainage comes before the pallet.