U.S. Water News Online
DETROIT -- The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is asking all of the 126 communities it services to restrict outdoor watering use until the region snaps out of its current dry spell.
Restrictions for Oakland and Macomb counties have been under way since last week. Now, the department wants the rest of its 4 million customers to conserve.
That means homes and businesses with odd-numbered addresses are asked to use water outdoors only on odd-numbered days, and places with even-numbered addresses should use water on even-numbered days. The restriction applies to the majority of Detroit and Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, St. Clair, Lapeer, Genesee, Washtenaw and Monroe counties.
The department also wants customers to limit or avoid outdoor water use during peak times, 6-9 a.m. and 3-6 p.m.
The restriction aims to combat low pressure caused by the heat wave. It remains in effect until further notice, the department said.
Water pressure at St. Joseph's Hospital has been so low that the 300-bed Macomb-West facility has been forced to call in a 9,000-gallon water tanker on several occasions during the past three weeks, hospital spokeswoman Suzanne Schut said.
One day's worth of running the hospital's cooling systems runs the tanker dry.
``The water ebbs and flows, literally. We have more problems over the weekends,'' she said.
Patients have not been affected yet, because the tanker is able to keep the hospital's crucial cooling systems operating; other conservation measures make it possible to run tap water from the regular township supply.
In the last 25 days, southeastern Michigan has received only about one-third of an inch of precipitation, said Fred Keyes, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oakland County's White Lake Township.
The dry conditions create a heavy demand for outdoor watering.
``At this time of year, it's very easy to see a fair amount fall but only in a specific area,'' Keyes said. ``It runs off if it comes down hard. The best thing we could see at this point is an all-day light rain to soak in and right now that's not in the cards.''
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