Wednesday, December 20, 2000
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Wednesday, December 20, 2000 |
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Recent rains refilling county's reservoirs By DAVE
HAMRICK It's too soon to start dancing in the streets to celebrate the end of the drought, but recent rains have Fayette County's public water supplies in pretty good shape. County Water System director Tony Parrott reported last week that the level of water in the Lake Horton reservoir has risen more than a foot over the last month, while customer demand has fallen. "We're in good shape," said Parrott. "Water usage is less than half what it was" during the peak months last summer. The Water System averaged producing 7.2 million gallons of drinking water per day so far in December, compared to nine mgd in October and 7.7 mgd in November. Customers used 10.5 mgd on the heaviest usage day in November, on the first, while the maximum so far in December was 8.2 million gallons Dec. 7. It's a far cry from the peak usage of about 16 mgd during the summer. But although the level at Lake Horton has improved, it remains at almost five feet below normal. It was at seven below back on Nov. 1. As long as the rains continue and the water level in the Flint River remains high, that situation will continue to improve, Parrott said. The county pumps water from the Flint into Lake Horton to keep it full, but if the water level in the Flint drops below a given level, state regulations require that the county stop its pumping. During the early fall, Parrott said, the Flint stayed just an inch or so below that level, which contributed to problems keeping Horton full. More recently, pumping is able to continue most of the time, he said. Meanwhile, outdoor watering restrictions remain in effect. Residents are permitted to water from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m. on an odd/even system. Water on odd days if your street address is an odd number, and vice versa.
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