Lawn Watering and Reclaimed Water in Port St. Lucie Florida

Port St. Lucie lies in St. Lucie County, part of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), whose Year-Round Landscape Irrigation Rule bars irrigation from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and limits it to two or three days a week (district rule).

Port St. Lucie Utility Systems points readers to the district: its Ways to Save Water page sends them to the South Florida Water Management District website for more conservation resources and lists a Lawn Watering Restrictions link there (Ways to Save Water), and the city's reclaimed water guidance tells irrigators to follow the district's guidelines for responsible use (Reclaimed Water page). The district describes its rule as mandatory, year-round and permanent, and contrasts it with a declared water shortage, which it calls a temporary declaration (SFWMD).

For a Port St. Lucie property, which row applies depends on the schedule a local government has adopted, and the district tells property owners to check their local or county ordinance (SFWMD). The district adds a test: if a local ordinance still allows irrigation on more than three days a week, it likely has not completed its local adoption process, and owners should follow the district rule instead (SFWMD). The district says the days depend on whether the address ends in an odd or even number and that the restrictions cover residential and nonresidential locations (SFWMD).

The district names Chapter 40E-24 of the Florida Administrative Code as the home of the year-round restrictions that apply across its territory, Port St. Lucie included (SFWMD). The state rules site lists that chapter as Mandatory Year-Round Landscape Irrigation Measures Conservation Measures, and its Rule 40E-24.201, Year-Round Landscape Irrigation Conservation Measures, carries an effective date of 7/14/2014, and separate rules cover a local government option, enforcement, and variances and waivers (Florida Administrative Code, Chapter 40E-24).

In Port St. Lucie, hand watering with a self-cancelling hose nozzle is allowed at any time, and the rule lists exceptions for reclaimed water, athletic play areas and agricultural operations holding district consumptive use permits (SFWMD landscape irrigation).

The district says its rule applies to landscape irrigation from all water sources, including public or private utility systems, private wells and private hookups to ponds, lakes and canals (SFWMD). The listed exceptions are the use of reclaimed water; athletic play areas such as golf courses and football, baseball and soccer fields; and agricultural operations, including nurseries, that hold a district consumptive use permit (SFWMD).

For Port St. Lucie properties, the district also defines specific exceptions for the installation of new landscaping, irrigation system maintenance and repair, watering-in of fertilizers and other chemical treatments, and low-volume watering by micro irrigation or by hand (SFWMD).

State law adds a variance path for Port St. Lucie properties with soil moisture sensor control systems. Section 373.62, Florida Statutes, provides that a variance from day or days-of-the-week watering restrictions shall be granted by the water management district to a user with a soil moisture sensor control system when a monitoring entity, such as a local government, a community development district, a homeowners association or a utility, certifies the system meets the statute's conditions (section 373.62, Florida Statutes). The same section says other irrigation restrictions, including prohibitions on irrigation, time-of-day watering requirements and water shortage or emergency orders, remain applicable to those users, and a monitored parcel carries a roadside notice reading Irrigating with Smart Irrigation Controller (section 373.62).

Port St. Lucie Utility Systems says its Glades and Westport wastewater treatment plants send golf courses and residential communities more than 1 million gallons of reclaimed water daily (Port St. Lucie Reclaimed Water page).

The communities the city names on that page are Floridian Golf & Yacht Club, Santa Lucia Golf River Club, Tesoro Club, Veranda Gardens East, Veranda Gardens West, Veranda Gardens Estates and Copper Creek (Reclaimed Water page). The city says it has supplied reclaimed water to large irrigation users for more than three decades, and it defines the product as highly treated wastewater put to use on lawns, golf courses and residential common areas (Reclaimed Water page). Its residential customer service guide adds that the city owns and operates two wastewater treatment facilities and that its facilities can produce 18 million gallons (MGD) of reuse a day (Utility Systems customer service guide).

The city sets plain limits on its use. Reclaimed water is for irrigation only, never for drinking, cooking, bathing, recreation or edible crops; reclaimed lines must never be tied into drinking water or sewer lines; and sprinklers should be aimed to prevent overspray and runoff (Reclaimed Water page). Questions go to Utility Systems at 772-873-6400 or utility@cityofpsl.com (Reclaimed Water page).

The customer guide defines reuse as the deliberate application of reclaimed water, in compliance with Florida Department of Environmental Protection and water management district rules, for a beneficial purpose (customer service guide). How the Westport plant is being upgraded to treat that water further is covered in the Westport wastewater plant upgrade guide.

The St. Lucie West Services District provides irrigation water using reclaimed water, which it describes as rain and stormwater collected in retention ponds plus treated wastewater from its own facility (SLWSD Irrigation Water Schedule).

The St. Lucie West district says customers are normally granted irrigation water twice a week unless dry conditions call for a restriction. When no restriction is in place, its irrigation pumps are turned on Monday at 9:30 a.m. and turned off Friday at 9:30 a.m. (SLWSD Irrigation Water Schedule). The district asks residents not to change their irrigation timers, since that can interfere with the set schedule, and says it adjusts run times itself during drought and gives advance notice if restrictions become necessary (SLWSD).

Responsibility for the equipment is split. In common areas, upkeep belongs to the homeowners association, property manager or landscape contractor; for homeowners, it runs from the district's point of service inward (SLWSD). Broken sprinklers or equipment go to the association or property manager, while low pressure or no water at all is reported to the district's customer service desk at (772) 340-0220 to open a trouble ticket (SLWSD). The St. Lucie West Services District guide covers the district's other utility services and billing.

Port St. Lucie Ordinance 26-86, adopted September 28, 2026, sets the reclaimed water base facility charge at $3.82 per 1,000 gallons of capacity reserved plus $4.02, and its rates, fees and charges become effective October 1, 2026 (Ordinance 26-86).

An earlier dated document, the Port St. Lucie residential customer service guide, prints reclaimed water usage rates under Ordinance 25-51, effective October 1, 2025: a base facility charge of $3.69 per 1,000 gallons of capacity reserved plus $3.88, $0.21 per 1,000 gallons of metered use, and an industrial reclaimed water rate of $0.30 per 1,000 gallons of metered use (customer service guide). The same guide explains that a monthly base facility charge, also called a "readiness to serve" fee, is applied to water, wastewater and reclaimed water bills even in a month with no recorded usage (customer service guide).

Port St. Lucie homes on city drinking water cannot simply add a second meter for the sprinklers. The same ordinance states that potable water meters connected solely to irrigation systems are not allowed, though the utility director may authorize exceptions at his or her sole discretion (Ordinance 26-86).

Port St. Lucie Utility Systems estimates that an irrigation system uses about 5,800 gallons a month, based on four zones running 10 minutes each three times a week (Ways to Save Water).

The same Port St. Lucie page puts hand watering at about 2,100 gallons a month, based on 9 gallons a minute for 20 minutes three times a week (Ways to Save Water). The district says a healthy landscape needs only 1 inch to 1.5 inches of water a week in the summer growing season, and less once a lawn goes dormant in winter (SFWMD).

A high Port St. Lucie water bill can come from a leak rather than the sprinklers. The city's two-hour leak check starts with every tap off and a meter reading; after about two hours with no water use, a second reading that differs points to a leak. Repeating the test with the main house valve shut tells whether the leak is in the line between the meter and the home or somewhere inside (Ways to Save Water). The city's meter faces light up when the cover is opened to the sun and read like a car odometer (Ways to Save Water).

Two other rules shape Port St. Lucie lawn care. State law requires anyone who installs an automatic landscape irrigation system to install, maintain and operate technology that interrupts it during periods of sufficient moisture, (section 373.62). The swale page also restates the city's fertilizer rule, under which turf and landscape plants may not receive fertilizer with nitrogen or phosphorus between June 1 and September 30 in any year (Swale Liner and Driveway Culverts page).

Last verified: October 22, 2026, against the district's Year-Round Rule and county coverage pages, the Chapter 40E-24 rule index, section 373.62, the city's Reclaimed Water, Ways to Save Water and swale pages, the St. Lucie West Services District irrigation schedule, Ordinance 26-86 and the utility customer guide.