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8.19.02 M.U.D. lifts water alert but urges conservation With the return of rain and the approaching end of summer, the Metropolitan Utilities District has lifted the voluntary restrictions on outdoor watering. The seven-week restriction went into effect June 29 and ended Monday morning. "Our customers really responded well, and we'd like to thank them," said Tom Wurtz, general manager for M.U.D. The alert went into effect when demand for water began hovering around 200 million gallons a day. At that time, M.U.D. had a maximum capacity for 225 million gallons, and the utility was worried that the forecast dry summer would deplete reservoirs, overtax equipment and jeopardize the water pressure needed in fighting fires. Wurtz estimated that voluntary cutbacks by customers reduced demand for water by about 10 million to 15 million gallons a day. This allowed the utility to maintain water pressure, especially in west Omaha where it has been a problem. Even though the alert has been lifted, Wurtz said M.U.D. is encouraging customers to conserve water. The utility hopes to bring another water plant on line by 2007, but even that plan assumes conservation practices will be in place. "We intend to encourage conservation whether we're pumping 100 million gallons a day or 200 million," he said. "Water is a precious resource, and it's the right thing to do." Under the water alert, customers were asked to restrict outdoor water use to every other day, based on an odd-even schedule that correlated a person's address to the date on the calendar. Click here for water conservation tips. |
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