Guide · Updated October 2026
Pinellas County Watering Restrictions, Explained (and Designed Around)
Watering restrictions in Pinellas County aren’t the obstacle homeowners think they are — they’re a design brief. Landscapes fail under restrictions when they were designed to need what the rules don’t allow. Design for the rules, and the schedule becomes irrelevant.
Current Pinellas County watering schedule
Checked October 31, 2026 against Pinellas County’s official watering page. Rules change with drought orders, so confirm there before you set a timer.
A Modified Phase III “Extreme” water shortage order from the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) has been in effect since April 3, 2026. Under it, lawns get one watering day a week. This is the schedule for Pinellas County Utilities customers:
| Where you live | Even-numbered address | Odd-numbered address (or mixed/no address) |
|---|---|---|
| North of SR 580 | Saturday | Wednesday |
| South of SR 580 | Tuesday | Thursday |
Reclaimed water customers get up to two days. North of SR 580, even addresses water Tuesday and/or Saturday and odd addresses water Wednesday and/or Sunday. South of SR 580, even addresses water Tuesday and/or Sunday and odd addresses water Monday and/or Thursday.
- Hours: 12:01 a.m.–4 a.m. or 8 p.m.–11:59 p.m. Properties under one acre pick one of the two windows.
- Hand watering and micro-irrigation of beds and shrubs (not lawns): any day, before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m.
- New plants and sod: a 60-day establishment period. Days 1–30 can be watered any day, and days 31–60 follow the SWFWMD establishment schedule. You have to register new lawn material with the county online. A full zone can run only if at least half of it is new; scattered new plants must be hand-watered. While the order lasts, the county advises against re-sodding or major landscape changes.
- Testing: once a week, 10 minutes maximum, with someone on site.
- Fines: $193 for a violation, doubling for each repeat. Warnings ended April 17, 2026.
City utility customers: Clearwater, St. Petersburg and some other cities run their own water utilities and publish their own schedules under the same SWFWMD order. If your water bill comes from the city, check the city’s schedule.
How the system works
The mechanics are consistent even as specifics shift with drought declarations: your address determines your watering day(s); watering happens outside the mid-day evaporation window; hand-watering with a shutoff nozzle and low-volume drip are broadly exempt; new installations get an establishment period. City utilities (Clearwater, St. Pete, and others) publish current schedules — bookmark yours, because “what my neighbor does” is the least reliable irrigation authority in Florida.
The exemption everyone ignores: drip
Low-volume irrigation is typically allowed any day, any time — and it’s better watering anyway: root-zone delivery, minimal evaporation, no fungus-feeding wet foliage. Converting planting beds from spray heads to drip is the single highest-leverage irrigation change a Pinellas yard can make. Suddenly two-thirds of your landscape doesn’t have a watering day.
Designing a yard that doesn’t care
The restriction-proof landscape follows a simple hierarchy: turf only where it earns its water (play areas, the front presentation strip), drought-tough beds everywhere else (see our plant guide), drip on the beds, spray only on the turf, and rain sensors that actually work — required by Florida law and dead on roughly half the systems we audit. Yards built this way sail through even one-day-a-week declarations while irrigated-daily landscapes brown out.
The audit that pays for itself
Most Pinellas irrigation systems waste water on broken heads, tilted spray patterns watering the sidewalk, zones running to beds that no longer exist, and controllers still set for August in February. A zone-by-zone audit — every head observed running — is part of every maintenance plan we run, because the cheapest water is the gallon that stops missing its target.
When the rules change
Drought declarations tighten schedules with little notice. Yards designed as above barely feel it; that’s the point. If your landscape browns every time SWFWMD issues an order, the problem isn’t the order — and we’d be glad to walk the yard and show you the redesign that ends the cycle.
Quick answers
What are the current watering days in Pinellas County? +
As of October 31, 2026, a SWFWMD 'Extreme' water shortage order limits lawns to one day a week. For Pinellas County Utilities customers, north of SR 580 even addresses water Saturday and odd addresses Wednesday; south of SR 580 even addresses water Tuesday and odd addresses Thursday. Hours are 12:01–4 a.m. or 8–11:59 p.m. City utility customers (Clearwater, St. Pete) should check their city's schedule, and anyone should confirm on pinellas.gov because orders change.
Does new sod get an exception? +
Generally yes — newly installed plants and sod typically get a 30–60 day establishment allowance with more frequent watering permitted. Keep your installation receipt; enforcement asks. We register the establishment period as part of every install.
Do restrictions apply to reclaimed water? +
Reclaimed customers usually operate on their utility's reclaimed schedule, which is often more generous but not unlimited — several Pinellas utilities restrict reclaimed hours too. Your utility's current notice is the authority.