Getting a Handle on Utility Cost

As I mentioned in my last post, utilities can really play havoc with a resorts budget. However, there are number of things management can do, to keep them under control.. Last time I mentioned electrical concerns. Well, water consumption is an other area that needs to be monitored. We all want our resorts to look like a paradise, with lots of foliage and blooming flowers. Well, this takes quite a bit of irrigation, to keep it looking lush.. However, these irrigation systems need to be monitored, so they don't waste one of our most precious resource, water. I reviewed our water bills a couple of months ago, and almost fell out of my desk chair. We had a single water meter that was directly connected to our irrigation system, that irrigated one half of our resort.. For a one month period, that one single meter, recorded a cost of over $4000.00 to irrigate only one half of our resort.. Come to find out, the timers were set to water for one hour, every day.. After speaking to a number of nursery personal, we found out, it was not necessary to water for an hour a day, it was only necessary to water for 10 to 15 minutes twice a week.. So, again, its just a matter of monitoring, and being familiar with the operation of various system, and their needs.