RALEIGH - Homeowners and gardeners may now use their automatic irrigation systems and hose-end sprinklers twice a week during select hours instead of once a week as the City Council voted Tuesday to relax outdoor watering restrictions on Raleigh water customers.

Consumers of city water may also now do hand-held watering at any time.

Raleigh water customers have been under Stage 1 water restrictions since April 7. In proposing to ease the restrictions, City Manager Russell Allen said customers have continued to conserve water even while Raleigh's water supply situation has improved dramatically.

Falls Lake, the source of Raleigh's drinking water, is currently 7 inches above full. The city's average daily consumption over the last 30 days is 41.6 million gallons a day, or about 20 percent less than normal for this time of year.

Mayor Charles Meeker said relaxing the rules makes sense given how successful Raleigh water customers have been at conservation.

"To me, this is really sort of a reward," he said.

Raleigh's water conservation rules apply to the city of Raleigh and the towns of Garner, Rolesville, Wake Forest, Knightdale, Wendell and Zebulon.

Under the revised rules, residents with odd property addresses may now run automatic irrigation systems on Tuesdays and Saturdays from midnight to 10 a.m. Sprinklers attached to garden hoses may operate between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and 10 p.m on those same days.

Even property addresses may run automatic irrigation systems on Wednesdays and Sundays from midnight to 10 a.m., and sprinklers attached to garden hoses between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on those same days.