Chatham-Kent is under lawn watering restrictions.
The Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission (CK PUC) said the restrictions for all customers, both residential and commercial, on the municipal water system started on Monday, July 6.
CK PUC said customers with odd-numbered addresses will be allowed to water their lawns on odd-numbered days while customers with even-numbered addresses will be allowed to water their lawns on even-numbered days. Newly sodded lawns will get a two month grace period.
“With the extended hot dry weather that this region has been experiencing, lawn watering has placed extra demands on all of our Water Treatment Plants,” said General Manager Tim Sunderland.
Sunderland added more restrictions could be on the way.
"This is the first step in the restrictions. CK PUC may need to implement further restrictions if the water plants do not see any relief," he said.
Municipal water customers of Chatham-Kent haven't had lawn watering restrictions for several years. The Water Use Restriction Policy was approved by the PUC Commission in August of 2003. Sunderland said the last time water restrictions were placed on CK was July 5, 2010.
Sunderland said the next step is an outright ban on watering lawns and nobody wants that.
"We've been tracking water consumption at all of our water plants and we felt this is the right time to implement this inconvenience to the customers, which is a minor inconvenience and this is a staggered approach. The next level after this would be a total water ban and that's not really where we want to go," he said.
Sunderland said this long dry stretch forced the municipality to be cautious and conserve water so everybody could water their lawns on their assigned days.
"Like any other utility you have to be conscious of your water usage, where it's going and the long-range forecast. We're trying to make sure all the water is available for the proper use," Sunderland added.
Sunderland said and there are no problems with the water plants or their capacity and added this measure is staggered to ease the extra burden on plants.
"The PUC is trying to be proactive in implementing water restrictions for odd and even days and if people can think consciously about that effort and water on their day if they need to water and if they have a vegetable garden then hand water it," said Sunderland.
