You may not know it, but if your house has an even-numbered address and you are watering your lawn on Tuesday, you are violating Georgia law.

"It hasn't really been an issue yet because historically, in the past few months, it's been pretty wet. But many residents probably don't realize there are any regulations on outdoor watering right now, and would probably be surprised to know they are on a three-day only regulation," Kathy Nguyen, senior project manager for the Cobb County Water System, said.

Nguyen said property owners with even or unnumbered addresses can water on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays only. Those with odd numbered addresses can water on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. No outdoor watering is allowed on Fridays.

Nguyen said the state sets the water regulations, not the county, and the regulations are set by the Georgia Environmental Protection Department and the Department of Natural Resources. The state imposed severe restrictions on water use from September 2007 until June 2009, almost 19 months, as the state faced a level four drought.

Nguyen said the current daily ordinance is considered a "non-drought" ordinance, which will never go away and has been in effect for almost 10 years.

If someone violates the ordinance, he or she will be given a written warning for the first time. Second-time offenders will be fined $100, $250 for the third, $500 for the fourth, and further violations could result in water service being terminated.

Nguyen said the ordinance is enforced, as the county water system has 34 employees on the meter maintenance and repair staff, who also look for violations while performing their daily duties and will often do patrols before and after work.

"We are a county that enforces these regulations, and we have had to terminate services in the past. We try not to terminate on domestic properties, but we will do it if we repeatedly can't get the account holder to cooperate," Nguyen said. "When we were on level four regulations, we did terminate some irrigation accounts and locked them off from receiving water services until the level four ban was lifted. During that ban, it was very difficult for residents because they have an investment in their lawns, and we understood that, but we still have to follow the law."

Chris Williams, general manager of White Oak Landscaping of Greater Atlanta, said his company has not seen a dramatic change in the amount of customers since the ordinance changed back to the non-drought ordinance in June, but that he feels the economy has made more of an impact on his business than watering restrictions. Williams said the company specializes in residential landscaping.

"I think we probably have about the same amount of business since the ban was lifted, maybe a little less, actually, due to the economy," Williams said. "But even though the ban's lifted, we're trying to do a better job of conserving water and educating our residents about when they can water and about doing the right thing, telling them to use only what the plant needs and avoid excessive water use."

Glenn Page, director of the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority, said the county has actually seen a slight decrease in rainfall so far this year compared to the average for the same time period. He said average rainfall at the county's two water treatment plants is 0.08 inches below normal.

"As far as expected precipitation moving forward, the last long-term forecast I heard was that the La Nina conditions in the Pacific were still strong, and that we could expect strong spring storms and above-average rainfall into the early part of the summer, and normal rainfall the remainder of the year," Page said.

Therefore, it is unlikely that the current regulations will change in the near future due to lack of rainfall.

But the legislation concerning the regulations could change.

The Georgia House of Representatives recently passed Senate Bill 370, which would permit property owners to water their lawns only between the hours of 4 p.m. and 10 a.m., regardless of the day or address number. It also places regulations on shower heads, a prohibition on the sale of toilet tanks that use more than an average of 1.28 gallons of water per flush in the state, and requires local authorities to adopt and enforce the new regulations in order to be eligible for grants, loans and permits. The bill requires local water authorities adopt the new regulation no later than Jan. 1, 2011. The bill has passed both the Senate and the House, and will no go before the governor to sign, which is expected, as Governor Sonny Perdue has been an active supporter of the bill.

"Our water restrictions aren't really tied to the climate. A drought certainly changes things, but we have definite restrictions because we face legal challenges from neighboring states and have the potential for having even less water than we have now in the future," Nguyen said. "Chattahoochee is one of the smallest rivers in the U.S. and we're at the top, getting water from the smallest part. We're also getting water from the smallest part of the Etowah River. So I think the statement the governor is trying to make with his bill, which we should listen to, is that conservation needs to be a priority and it doesn't just go with rainfall."