As a result of the continued recovery of water supplies in Cabarrus County, local officials announced Friday they are further relaxing water use restrictions ó allowing customers an additional day of outdoor residential landscape irrigation.
Under the amended rules, customers can now water on Tuesdays until Nov. 30.
The additional day of watering applies to customers of Landis, Kannapolis, Concord, Kannapolis, Harrisburg and Mount Pleasant and takes effect immediately. The restrictions apply only to water sold by these municipalities, Karen Whichard, communications director for the city of Kannapolis, said in a press release Friday.
While lake and stream flows are at or near normal, Cabarrus officials said they want to continue to monitor water levels in the event they should drop again.
“The improvements give us comfort in allowing additional outdoor water use for customers considering to re-establish their lawns or install new plants,” Whichard said.
“Since our previous amendment to our water use restrictions, we observed less than a 1 percent change to our overall system demands that is largely attributed to the efforts of our customers to ensure conservation of our water resources.”
The following activities are permitted only on Tuesdays and Saturdays, any time in those 24-hour periods:
– Residential car washing using a hand-held hose or pressure washer, both equipped with a spring-loaded nozzle.
– Residential use of water to wash down outside areas using a hand-held hose or pressure washer, both equipped with a spring-loaded nozzle.
– Watering of trees, flowers, shrubs, ornamental plants and vegetable gardens for plant preservation using a hand-held hose equipped with a spring-loaded nozzle.
– Lawn irrigation using any type of system, including in-ground systems, soaker hoses and oscillating sprinklers.
The following activities will be allowed under changes to the Level III mandatory water restrictions:
– Irrigation services may be installed and activated.
– Filling of swimming pools by permit. Topping off of previously filled pools is still acceptable at any time.
– Pressure washing businesses with an appropriate privilege license are still allowed to use water for their normal business activities at any time. These businesses will continue to ensure that the waste of water does not occur.
All other restrictions remain in effect.
“We appreciate the continued efforts of our citizens to conserve water and encourage our citizens to remain diligent in their conservation efforts.,” Whichard said. “Customers are reminded to pursue projects cautiously given the persistent drought conditions that we have experienced and should remain aware of current water use restrictions as published.”