Two weeks after the start of Raleigh's lawn irrigation restrictions, inspectors are continuing to cite unexpectedly large numbers of residents, many of them in four large residential developments.

More people were caught Monday for breaking the alternate-day rules than on the first day of the water restrictions, July 2. On that first day, enforcement officers issued warning notices to 31 offenders. Monday, they cited 33.

"We hoped it would be a lot lower by now," said Don Casterlin, one of the city's three code enforcement inspectors, who spend part of each day driving through neighborhoods in search of improper water use.

Under the new rules, spray irrigation of lawns and other landscaping is allowed at odd-numbered addresses only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; at even-numbered addresses on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Outdoor watering with sprinklers or automated irrigation systems is prohibited at all addresses on Mondays. Much of the Triangle is under similar rules for irrigation.

First-time offenders in Raleigh get a warning on the spot -- either handed to them or with a notice hung on their door. That's followed with a letter by certified mail. Second-time offenders must pay a $50 fine, and a third violation brings a $200 fine. Fourth-time offenders will have their water service suspended and reinstated only at the discretion of Dale Crisp, the public utilities director.

More than half the 272 citations issued since July 2, nearly all to first-time violators, were in large residential developments of pricey homes: Wakefield, Falls River and Brier Creek in Raleigh, and Heritage in Wake Forest.

Among those breaking the rules was Sidney Lowe, N.C. State University basketball coach. A citation was issued Saturday for improper watering at the 9,500-square-foot house he and his wife own on a half-acre lot in Brier Creek. A spokeswoman for the NCSU basketball team said Lowe would have no comment.

Efforts to reach others cited for water violations failed.

Raleigh City Councilman Philip Isley, whose district includes the Brier Creek subdivision, said Monday night that he believes some people still do not know when they can water.

"I would expect it would take two to four weeks for people to understand what the restrictions are," Isley said. "We have done what we can to get the message out. Unfortunately, the fines are a big part of that process."

Isley said he would set up meetings with homeowners at Brier Creek if the development's residents continue to be such a large portion of violators.

"I would go out there and try to promote what our regulations are," he said.

So far, the number of violations across the system -- which includes Raleigh and six other Wake towns -- is running well ahead of citations issued during seven months of water restrictions during the 2005-06 drought.

During that entire period, the city issued citations for 546 violations.

Crisp said inspectors are finding more violations in the four areas of larger and newer homes because of greater water usage and more common use of automatic irrigation systems. He said those areas in particular demand the pumping of higher volumes of water into elevated tanks to maintain adequate water pressure.

"We can measure what we pump into those zones," Crisp said. "They are defined by new development, and we know we have a higher percentage of irrigation systems in that area."

Casterlin said he and other inspectors have spent time looking for violators across the city's water service area, which stretches as far as Wakefield to the north and Zebulon to the east.

"We go all over," he said, "but there are certain areas that are having more violations. They tend to be newer subdivisions with more high-dollar homes."

Monday, when 13 citations alone were written in Wakefield, Casterlin found no violations while checking in both Knightdale and Wendell.

He said the typical response from violators is that they were unaware of the restrictions or they were new to the area.

Yet the new restrictions have been heavily publicized in the media and in direct mailings from the city. During the last two weeks, the city has sent to all 162,000 customers of the water system refrigerator magnets with the alternate-day schedule.

Casterlin said that he and the other inspectors often observe violations early in the morning, often before 6 or 7 a.m., with automated systems. Instead of waking residents, he said, they leave behind their calling card: a door hanger notice telling them that they've been found in violation of the water restrictions.

For now, the city isn't planning any changes in its approach to improving compliance.

"We're not going to slow down enforcement," said Ed Buchan, the city's water conservation specialist.

Despite the new restrictions, Raleigh recorded its third-highest usage July 7, at 70.6 million gallons of water, and fourth-highest usage July 10, at 70.2 million gallons.

(Staff writer Marlon A. Walker contributed to this report.)