Excessive heat taxes treatment plants: Water Authority issues urgent call for decreased water use
July 03, 2007
The San Diego County Water Authority is issuing an urgent call for homeowners and businesses throughout San Diego County to…
The San Diego County Water Authority is issuing an urgent call for homeowners and businesses throughout San Diego County to curtail all unnecessary water use between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. through the end of this week. Local and regional water treatment plants are now running at full capacity because extremely high temperatures around the region have spiked demand for treated water.
If any of the treatment plants malfunction and reduce treated water production in the county, the Water Authority may institute temporary mandatory reductions in treated water deliveries to all its member agencies. Should this occur, local water agencies may initiate mandatory water restrictions to adjust for the reduced amount of water they will receive. Mandatory restrictions on water use for businesses, agricultural users, homeowners and multi-unit dwellings could be initiated by local water agencies. Should mandatory restrictions be instituted, people are advised to contact their local water agency or municipal water department to determine the restrictions issued for their area.
Beginning Friday a new expansion module at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s Skinner treatment plant in Temecula is scheduled to begin operations, adding 110 million gallons per day of treated water to the regional distribution system. This additional capacity will significantly increase the region’s ability to meet periods of high treated water demand during the summer.
While this urgent call to decrease water use due to the treated water capacity constraints is temporary, the regional “20-Gallon Challenge” for voluntary water conservation announced by the Water Authority last week will remain in place indefinitely. The challenge calls for the region to reduce water use by 20 gallons a day per person to help keep more water in storage for 2008. For more information on the “20-Gallon Challenge” go to http://www.20gallonchallenge.com/
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