Aquarion Asks for Continued Water Restrictions

The following is an update sent to area municipal leaders from Aquarion on the record-high demand on its system this past week thanks to the heat wave. The company requested voluntary water conservation procedures. Aquarion serves 580,000 customers in 39 towns in the state, including Westport.

With a 153-year track record, Aquarion Water Company began experiencing all-time peak demands the first week of July. These demands increased from 125 million gallons on July 4, to 135 million gallons on July 5. On July 6 and 7, demand peaked at 145 million gallons. As a point of information, the normal demand at this time of year is 90 to 100 million gallons.

Due in part to an extensive demand management outreach program that included activation of our Reverse 911 system in select towns, Aquarion was able to reduce demand to 128 million gallons on July 8. However, because of heavy overnight demand the following morning, the water tanks were not able to recover. 

Initiation of the demand management outreach program began on July 7, with a notice sent directly to key municipal personnel in Stamford, Ridgefield, Weston, Georgetown, Redding, Simsbury, Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, Westport, Wilton and Mystic, asking for certain steps to be taken to curtail use. This included:

• Odd-Even watering restricted to 5-9 a.m. and 7-9 p.m.
• Banning all outdoor water use other than irrigation (washing of automobiles, boats, streets etc.)
• Banning use of outdoor ornamental or display fountains
•  Banning the use of outdoor sprinkler caps
•  Deferring street sweeping
•  Allow watering of athletic fields, golf courses and clay tennis courts only for one hour per day between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
• Use of hydrants only for emergency or public health-related flushing of sewers. 

The Reverse 911 or "CodeRed" system was implemented on July 7 and contacted 94,000 customers to request that customers conserve water between July 7 and July 14. Specifically, customers were asked to defer watering for the next 24 hours and, thereafter, voluntarily water only on an odd-even schedule (for instance if your house number is 102 Main Street, you would only water on July 8, 10 and 12) and only between the hours of 5-9 a.m. and 7-9 p.m. The message also urged elimination of all outdoor water usage other than essential landscaping.

On July 7 calls were also made to 19 country clubs within the areas of concern. Country clubs were asked to conserve water wherever they could and asked to only water fairways on odd-numbered days.

The impact of this demand management program has been helpful, but not fixative. Due to the fact that the weather forecast calls for more hot, dry weather over the next seven to 10 days, with limited rain activity, we continue to be very concerned about our ability to meet multiple-day peak demands. There is still a critical need to conserve water.

Aquarion is asking communities to continue to spread the conservation message.