Marietta, GA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)
Water restrictions in Marietta, GA, also called the watering schedule, outdoor irrigation rules, or drought ordinance, set which days and hours you can run sprinklers or irrigation.
Key Facts
- Allowed watering hours
- 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. daily
- Fine range
- $100 to $500 per offense
- Enforcement
- BLW water division and public safety personnel
- Extra remedy
- water service disconnection for violations
- Exceptions
- 13 listed uses, incl. drip irrigation, new plantings
Summary
Marietta's Water Conservation Ordinance limits outdoor irrigation of lawns, gardens, and landscaping to the hours of 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. daily, with BLW water division and public safety personnel enforcing fines from $100 to $500 per offense or water service disconnection for violations.
Persons may irrigate outdoors daily for purposes of planting, growing, managing, or maintaining ground cover, trees, shrubs, or other plants only between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. ... E.Irrigation of personal food gardens;F.Irrigation of new and replanted plant, seed, or turf in landscapes, golf courses, or sports turf fields during installation and for a period of 30 days immediately following the date of installation;G.Drip irrigation or irrigation using soaker hoses;H.Handwatering with a hose with automatic cutoff or handheld container; ... Enforcement shall be the city public safety personnel and BLW water division personnel, and may consist of warnings, fines of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) to not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each offense, or discontinuance of water service and payment of water cut-off and turn-on charges in accordance with BLW policy, or any combination of the foregoing.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 56).
Full Breakdown
, banning daytime watering when evaporation loss is highest. The manager of the City of Marietta and the Board of Lights and Water (BLW) can go further and impose additional out-of-doors water use restrictions, up to a total ban, whenever county or state officials recommend it or the BLW's supply is short, reporting any such action to the council and BLW board at its next meeting under Section 6-8-4-010. 2, use of EPD-permitted reclaimed wastewater, personal food gardens, new plantings during their first 30 days after installation, drip irrigation and soaker hoses, handwatering with an automatic shutoff hose or handheld container, private well or surface water on the same property, horticultural crops held for sale, athletic fields and golf courses, irrigation-system installation and calibration, and hydroseeding.
Enforcement under Section 6-8-4-030 falls to city public safety personnel and BLW water division personnel, and the article applies to every BLW customer inside the city limits, with citations returnable to Marietta Municipal Court.
Violations & Fines
Watering outside the 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. window without qualifying for one of the ordinance's listed exceptions draws a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $500 for each offense under Section 6-8-4-030, enforced by BLW water division personnel and city public safety officers. The BLW can also discontinue water service for repeat violations, and the customer must pay the standard water cut-off and turn-on charges before service is restored, in addition to the underlying fine.
Frequently Asked Questions
What hours can I water my lawn in Marietta?
Is drip irrigation exempt from Marietta's watering-hours restriction?
What's the fine for watering at the wrong time in Marietta?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Marietta
How Marietta compares: Cities with the Strictest Water Restrictions·Compare Marietta to another location·View the Georgia landscaping rules overview
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