By MARY MacDONALD, DOUG NURSE Roswell and Alpharetta both softened their watering restrictions Monday to mirror Fulton County's decision to allow more outdoor watering and pool-filling.
Both cities will allow residents to hand-water in their yards for up to 25 minutes, one day a week.
In addition, city residents can now top off or fill existing swimming pools. And residents can water newly installed landscaping for 30 days, whether it is professionally installed or a do-it-yourself project.
The new rules take effect Tuesday and mirror those set by Fulton County authorities late last month. Roswell wanted its city watering rules to be consistent with the county because most customers in the city use the Fulton County water system.
The new watering restrictions approved by both cities allow the following outdoor water use:
• Owners of swimming pools must register with the city and post a permit before filling up.
• Gardeners are restricted to hand-watering one day a week, on a staggered schedule. People with even-numbered addresses may water on Saturday between midnight and 10 a.m. Odd-numbered addresses can water during the same hours on Sundays. Hand-watering is one person with one garden hose, using a spray nozzle that automatically shuts off when released.
• For newly installed landscapes, homeowners must register with the state through its Web site, http://www.urbanagcouncil.com/, and in Roswell they must also register online with the city's Outdoor Water Registry. Once approved, they may water for up to three days a week for four weeks, between midnight and 10 a.m.
Several restrictions remain in place. Under state outdoor watering restrictions, city residents cannot use ornamental fountains, unless they contain fish, use automatic sprinklers to water lawns, or hand-wash automobiles.
In Alpharetta, police enforce the rules, and even cited the city for violating its own watering regulations for a couple of malfunctioning sprinklers at City Hall.
The two cities join Milton and Johns Creek, which had earlier adopted Fulton County's watering rules.
In October, Alpharetta was one of the leaders in cracking down on water usage, passing restrictions that prohibited watering new landscaping among other bans.
But after scores of panicked landscapers showed up at a City Council meeting to plead for mercy, the city softened its stance to allow watering of new landscaping except for what is called overseeding or planting grass seed over an existing lawn.
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