Tranch749 wrote:

...I guess each NG has to have their village idiot and I've just been contacted
by the one for this group!



Not just one. There are hundreds of them.


You don't have to soak your lawn every day. A new lawn needs water, but
grass doesn't grow in wetlands. (At least the kind of grass you want on
your lawn).

New seed will need water to germinate. You will have to keep the surface
moist while the grass gets started. If you can only water during certain
hours, make sure you do that. Don't water until puddles form. You only
need to keep the surface moist.

A light cover of straw mulch will help keep the moisture in the ground
rather than evaporating. This will lower the watering requirements. The
grass will grow through the straw and the straw will decompose in place.

If you really have problems with enough water, you might consider
watering only that area you want to use (next to the house; a play area;
a place to sit) and convert the rest of the yard to shrubs or
wildflowers or xeriscape or whatever your neighborhood association will
allow. Shrubs can be watered with greywater (from bathing, dishwashing,
laundry).

Sod, being already established grass with soil attached, needs water to
put roots down into the ground, but not as much as new grass from seed.