Water restrictions in Orange County, NC — also called the watering schedule, outdoor irrigation rules, or drought ordinance — set which days and hours you can run sprinklers or irrigation.
Water here comes from small reservoirs, so conservation is built in. OWASA, serving Chapel Hill and Carrboro from University Lake, Cane Creek, and Quarry reservoirs, runs a year-round odd/even spray-irrigation schedule that tightens further as drought stages advance.
Unlike big-river systems, the Orange Water and Sewer Authority draws on three modest reservoirs, University Lake, Cane Creek, and Quarry, so it caps outdoor use even in normal years. OWASA's year-round conservation standards limit spray irrigation to no more than three days a week: even-numbered addresses on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday, odd-numbered on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. When drought triggers a water-shortage stage, the schedule drops to one day per week and can reach a full irrigation ban. Hillsborough runs its own town water system with separate rules, and rural residents on private wells set their own use.
Irrigating outside your assigned days or stage limits brings escalating OWASA enforcement, typically a warning first, then surcharges or fines, with tighter caps and possible service action during a declared water-shortage emergency.
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Orange County, NC
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See how Orange County's water restrictions rules stack up against other locations.
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