Connecticut Water Companies Ask Customers to Do Their Part to Conserve

While we have seen some impressive storms over the last week, it’s not enough to put a dent in the drought. Water companies continue to ask customers to do their part to conserve.

For the majority of the state, conditions are dry. The U.S. Drought Monitor says the eastern part of the state is seeing extreme drought while most of the state is in a severe drought. It’s the lack of substantial rain this summer that has water companies asking residential and commercial customers to conserve.

“In this month so far, we’ve had less than three inches of rain at our Deep River Reservoir. That’s a problem for us,” said Chris Riley with Norwich Public Utilities.

Norwich Public Utilities issued a water supply warning. It’s been six years since their reservoirs approached 70% capacity.

“We know that if we’re at 72% now, regrettably there’s no rain in the forecast, we’re going to be below 70% probably by the end of the week. We wanted to get a jump on this, and we’re strongly encouraging our customers to reduce their water use by 10% if they can,” Riley said.

Connecticut Water is also asking all of its customers to do their part. While we have seen some impressive storms over the last week, officials say it’s not been anywhere near enough.

“Precipitation is about 5% below where we would expect it to be this time of the year, so we need to be mindful of protecting and preserving those water resources,” said Dan Meaney with Connecticut Water.

And small changes to conserve can have a big impact when everyone does it. Myra Johnson said she’s happy to do her part.

“Just not running the water when I do dishes, running the dishwasher a little bit less,” Johnson said.

In addition, customers are asked to take shorter showers, stop lawn watering, clean sidewalks or walkways with a broom instead of a hose, and check for any leaks.

The hope is by taking these steps now, we can avoid more drastic steps down the road.