§ 25.101. General prohibition.

No customer of the City of Vernon shall make, cause, use or permit the use of City water in a manner contrary to any provision of this article or in an amount which exceeds that permitted pursuant to action taken by the City Council in accordance with the provisions of this article.

In addition, the following water conservation requirements are effective at all times and are permanent. Violations of this section will be considered waste and an unreasonable use of water.

(a) Limits on watering hours: Watering or irrigating of lawn, landscape or other vegetated area with potable water is prohibited between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on any day, except by use of a hand-held bucket or similar container, a hand-held hose equipped with a positive self-closing water shut-off nozzle or device, or for very short periods of time for the express purpose of adjusting or repairing an irrigation system.

(b) Limit on watering duration: Watering or irrigating of lawn, landscape or other vegetated area with potable water using a landscape irrigation system or a watering device that is not continuously attended is limited to no more than fifteen (15) minutes watering per day per station. This subsection does not apply to landscape irrigation systems that exclusively use very low-flow drip type irrigation systems when no emitter produces more than two (2) gallons of water per hour and weather based controllers or stream rotor sprinklers that meet a seventy (70%) percent efficiency standard.

(c) No excessive water flow or runoff: Watering or irrigating of any lawn, landscape or other vegetated area in a manner that causes or allows excessive water flow or runoff onto an adjoining sidewalk, driveway, street, alley, gutter or ditch is prohibited.

(d) No washing down hard or paved surfaces: Washing down hard or exterior paved surfaces, including but not limited to sidewalks, walkways, driveways, parking areas, patios or alleys, is prohibited except when necessary to alleviate safety or sanitary hazards, and then only by use of a hand-held bucket or similar container, a handheld hose equipped with a positive self-closing water shut-off device, a low- volume, high-pressure cleaning machine equipped to recycle any water used, or a low-volume high-pressure water broom.

(e) Obligation to fix leaks, breaks or malfunctions: Excessive use, loss or escape of water through breaks, leaks or other malfunctions in the water user's plumbing or distribution system for any period of time after such escape of water should have reasonably been discovered is prohibited and shall be repaired as soon as reasonably practicable.

(f) Re-circulating water required for water fountains and decorative water features: Operating a water fountain or other decorative water feature that does not use recirculated water is prohibited.

(g) Limits on washing vehicles: Using water to wash or clean a vehicle, including but not limited to any automobile, truck, van, bus, motorcycle, boat or trailer, whether motorized or not is prohibited, except by use of a hand-held bucket or similar container or a hand-held hose equipped with a positive self- closing water shutoff nozzle or device. This subsection does not apply to any commercial vehicle washing facility.

(h) Drinking water served upon request only: Eating or drinking establishments, including but not limited to a restaurant, hotel, cafe, cafeteria, bar, or other public place where food or drinks are sold, served, or offered for sale, are prohibited from providing drinking water to any person unless expressly requested.

(i) No installation of single pass cooling systems: Installation of single pass cooling systems is prohibited in buildings requesting new water service.

(j) Limits on commercial car wash and laundry systems: Installation of non-recirculating water systems is prohibited in new commercial conveyor car wash and new commercial laundry systems.

(Ord. No. 995, App. A; Ord. No. 1161, Exh. A.)