In the wee hours of the morning when most of Salt Lake City is fast asleep, sprinklers everywhere are as they should be: wide awake.
And they are ideal nocturnal apparatuses for good reason.
"We generally run our sprinklers in the (early) morning so it doesn't interfere with pedestrians," said Rick Mills, grounds manager for Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City, which regularly uses dozens of sprinklers to water its lawn.
It's a sprinkler etiquette of sorts: water the lawn, not the neighbors. Not the well-dressed businesspeople walking to the office. Not the couple pushing their baby in a stroller. Not the children riding their bikes on the sidewalk.
And yet, daytime sprinklers dousing sidewalks have long been a common part of the landscape for sun-oppressed Utah communities from Salt Lake City to Provo. As high temperatures inch closer and Utahns pursue green lawns near their homes, apartment complexes, hotels and the like, many a sidewalk pedestrian has been faced with a pick-your-poison dilemma: Walk in the street? Walk in the mud? Or withstand the aquatic ambush that is certain to soak your new khakis and leather shoes?
"If you're wearing Levi's or shorts it's not a big deal," said Amy Jeppson, a Midvale resident. "But if you're dressed for work then you don't want to get a nice fabric all wet. It's irritating."
Joel Platts, a muscular fitness instructor, wants no parts of the wet stuff. He sees a sprinkler with the potential to drench him and he seeks the path of least resistance.
"I'll walk out in the street," he said.
Using that escape, Platts would have journeyed into four lanes of traffic several weeks ago when the McDonald's restaurant at 200 West and 500 South in Salt Lake City had numerous sprinklers forming a crossfire along a 50-yard stretch during the afternoon. Pedestrians could either have endured the aquatic assault — which would have been like being sprayed with a garden hose by a prankster friend — or crossed the street, as most did.
But William Adler is one of the bold. A lifetime Salt Lake resident, Adler professes to having built up an immunity to the sprinkler onslaughts. Generally a casually dressed man, if he sees airborne water hogging up the sidewalk he simply walks right through it.
The fashion conscientious, however, should know they can't cry to the government about aquatic arrogance. The sprinklers are almost always unrestricted free agents.
"The only time there is ever enforcement is if the mayor declares an emergency, at which time there could be sanctions" for violators, said LeRoy W. Hooton Jr., Salt Lake City's director of public utilities.
City officials do "strongly recommend" that people water their lawns at night, Hooten said, when water tends to evaporates less and is better absorbed into the ground.
But Mills said that some businesses, including Little America, are occasionally forced to feed their lawns to test for problems with their sprinkler system or "if the lawns are stressed" due to a persistent heat wave.
But no matter the excuse, even sprinkler defiants like Adler are baffled by any daytime indulgences.
"People who water during the day amaze me," Adler said. "I think it's inconsiderate . . . . If you have a timer (on your sprinkler), why not use it?"
You can reach Frank Curreri by e-mail at fcurreri@desnews.com