Water restrictions in Wake County, NC — also called the watering schedule, outdoor irrigation rules, or drought ordinance — set which days and hours you can run sprinklers or irrigation.
Wake County water customers in unincorporated areas served by City of Raleigh Public Utilities follow Raleigh's Water Conservation Ordinance (Code Ch. 8). Odd/even day watering may be triggered during droughts. Each Wake municipality has its own conservation tier rules.
Most of unincorporated Wake County is served by City of Raleigh Public Utilities or one of the Wake Towns' systems. Raleigh's water conservation tiers (Code §8-2073) trigger at four levels based on Falls Lake water levels and demand: Stage 1 (voluntary), Stage 2 (mandatory odd/even outdoor watering), Stage 3 (more restrictions), Stage 4 (essential uses only). Year-round, irrigation is generally limited to early-morning or evening hours. Customers on private wells are unregulated by the county but may face NC DWR rules for high-capacity wells. Each Wake town with its own water system (Cary, Apex, Holly Springs) operates parallel conservation tiers.
Stage 2+ violations: citation under Raleigh §8-2073, typical $200-1,000 per violation. Repeat: water-service suspension possible.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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