By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

The 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. outdoor watering ban which started Monday will affect Fayette County's residents more than businesses like car washes, nurseries and landscapers that depend on water to stay in business.

Those businesses, which aren't included in the ban, typically use water efficiently anyway, said a spokesman for the state Environmental Protection Division, which imposed the ban Monday.

The ban, which covers Fayette and 14 other metro Atlanta counties, was enacted to help combat a third straight year of drought conditions.

The main message of the ban is aimed at residential water customers in the Atlanta area, said EPD spokesman Vince Dollard: “Use water more efficiently.”

“We're in the third year of a drought and the effects are cumulative,” he said. “We're trying to face a crisis situation.”

The ban forbids individuals washing their cars at home, but commercial car washes will be allowed to operate all day, Dollar said.

The ban prohibits the watering of lawns from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., even if sod has been placed and could die without water in that time frame, Dollard said.

“They [residents] still have 12 hours a day in which they can water their lawns,” Dollard said.

Watering the lawn in the early morning helps the soil accept the water better and keeps water from evaporating, he added.

In Fayette County, the previous odd-even outdoor watering ban has been lifted since the EPD enacted the 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. outdoor watering ban. The EPD's ban will help the agency get a handle on how much water each county is using, since some counties like Fayette previously had water restrictions in place while others had none.

But if more rain doesn't come soon, the EPD's watering restrictions could worsen, Dollard said.

“It could become a total outdoor watering ban. We don't know because it depends on the weather,” Dollard said. “It also depends on the levels of Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona, which are the two main reservoirs for the 15-county metro Atlanta area.”