Mount Prospect, IL Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)
Water restrictions in Mount Prospect, IL, also called the watering schedule, outdoor irrigation rules, or drought ordinance, set which days and hours you can run sprinklers or irrigation.
Key Facts
- Odd addresses
- Water on odd numbered dates
- Even addresses
- Water on even numbered dates
- Permitted hours
- 4:00 P.M. to 10:00 A.M.
- New sod exemption
- Any time, any day, for two (2) weeks after installation
- Also covered
- Filling and refilling swimming pools
- Emergency authority
- Village manager, upon declaring an emergency
Summary
The Village of Mount Prospect bans watering lawns and gardens or filling swimming pools with public water except on an odd/even schedule. Odd addresses water on odd dates and even addresses on even dates, only between 4:00 P.M. and 10:00 A.M. New sod gets a two week exemption.
B. Lawn And Garden Use, Filling Swimming Pools: 1. It shall be unlawful for any person to use or any owner to allow the use of any water, whether drawn directly or indirectly from public wells and/or public water supply distribution systems for the purpose of watering and/or sprinkling lawns and/or gardens or for the purpose of filling and/or refilling swimming pools, except as provided herein below: a. Watering and/or sprinkling shall be permitted for odd numbered addresses on odd numbered dates, and for even numbered addresses on even numbered dates. All such watering and/or sprinkling shall be accomplished only between the hours of four o'clock (4:00) P.M. to ten o'clock (10:00) A.M. b. Newly sodded areas of lawns may be watered at any time on any day for the two (2) week period following the installation of such sod.
Full Breakdown
Section 9.406B of the Village Code makes it unlawful for any person to use, or any owner to allow the use of, water drawn directly or indirectly from public wells or the public water supply distribution system for watering or sprinkling lawns and gardens, or for filling or refilling swimming pools, except as the section allows. The rule reaches both the person running the sprinkler and the owner who lets it run.
The main allowance is an address-and-date schedule. Watering and sprinkling is permitted for odd numbered addresses on odd numbered dates, and for even numbered addresses on even numbered dates. All of it must be done between four o'clock (4:00) P.M. and ten o'clock (10:00) A.M. That leaves the hours from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. closed to lawn and garden sprinkling for every address, on every date.
The second allowance is for new sod. Newly sodded areas of lawns can be watered at any time on any day for the two (2) week period following the installation of the sod. The exemption is written for lawns, and the two week clock starts with installation.
Subsection B.2 adds an emergency power. If any water source providing water for the village fails, or in a water shortage, the village manager, upon declaring that an emergency exists, is authorized to implement the emergency water use plan the village is using, as amended to meet Illinois state requirements, and to impose immediate restrictions on watering lawns and gardens and on filling swimming pools. Those emergency restrictions replace the everyday schedule.
The schedule sits in the same section as the fire hydrant rule: taking water from a hydrant without authority is unlawful, and the fee for hydrant water is twice the village water rate.
Violations & Fines
Section 9.407F provides that every person found guilty of a violation of subsection 9.406A shall be subject to a fine as set forth in appendix A, division III of the code. For other violations, section 9.407 lets a village official issue a citation for settlement in the amounts listed in that appendix, with a complaint in the circuit court of Cook County if the citation is not settled. The water meter registered in the alleged violator's name is prima facie proof that the violator allowed the water use.
Frequently Asked Questions
What days can I water my lawn in Mount Prospect?
Is there an exception for new sod?
Does the schedule apply to filling a swimming pool?
Can the village tighten the rules during a drought?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Mount Prospect
How Mount Prospect compares: Cities with the Strictest Water Restrictions·Compare Mount Prospect to another location·View the Illinois landscaping rules overview
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Water Restrictions in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Cook County handle water restrictions.