While lawns require a lot of water to maintain, there is such a thing as too much water for your lawn.
Not only does overwatering hurt the environment, but it also hurts your wallet — and things get even more complicated when you're not even the one who gets to decide how often your lawn gets watered and how much you pay for said water.
That's exactly the situation one Redditor found themselves in.
"My landlord turned on the sprinkler system in my yard and told me in an email that it is set to run 'Three times a week for 30 minutes at 2:00am' but it has been running at 8:00pm for two hours every single night," the original poster wrote in the r/legaladvice subreddit.
"My water usage has gone from 100 gallons a day to 1,700 gallons a day," they continued. "My water bill is going to be enormous and I can't afford it."
For comparison, the average American uses 82 gallons of water a day.
Unfortunately, their landlord is technically allowed to water the lawn as much as they like.
"My lease … states that the landlord has the right to water the lawn, shrubbery and plants using water available at the house and paid for by me," the poster wrote.
In addition to inflating the tenant's water bill, watering the lawn for two hours every night is an enormous waste of water.
One commenter wrote, "This is a huge volume of water … If you put 1500 gallons on a normal yard it would be submerged."
Droughts have increased in frequency and severity over the past few decades, and that trend doesn't show signs of stopping. To combat water waste, many homeowners have replaced their lawns with low-water landscaping, which is not only better for the environment but can also save you tons of money off your water bill.
Commenters agreed that the landlord's new watering schedule was overkill.
"That's really overwatering and sounds like a malfunction," one said.
"Sounds like they are creating a man made lake if your yard has to be watered that much," another said.
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