Dateline June 2004
Simple Cutbacks on Water Use Helps Conserve Resources During Drought Status
Mount Pleasant Waterworks (MPW) Commissioners are encouraging the water utility's 71,000 customers to use less water in their homes and businesses as a precaution to the continuing drought status underway in the region.
In a proactive move to respond to this week's announced "incipient" drought status, MPW Commissioners called for voluntary reductions in non-essential water uses.
MPW Commission Chairman Dr. William L. Golightly Jr. said the reductions are encouraged to help Mount Pleasant "do our part to help conserve this vital resource and to help South Carolina as a whole."
Golightly pointed out that Mount Pleasant's main water source, the Middendorf Aquifer, is re-charged from rainwater that falls in the state's midlands and piedmont. The Middendorf supplies 80-percent of East Cooper's drinking water supply although there is no immediate danger of abnormal draw-down. About 20-percent of MPW's water is provided by the Charleston Commissioners of Public Works, which relies on surface water sources.
"It could take years before we would see any negative effect of continued drought both in our region and statewide," said Golightly. "This measure is precautionary and proactive."
MPW Commissioners say voluntary water conservation in the Lowcountry is about being a good steward for a water source that spans the lower half of South Carolina.
"Conservation helps remind us all of the importance of clean, pristine drinking water," said Golightly. "We all need to do our part to help conserve our resources as our state endures its fifth year of drought conditions. And we need to start conserving now because Autumn is statistically our driest season of the year."
How To Conserve Water
To help customers use less water, MPW has provided the following consumer tips for voluntary conservation:
- Limit landscape irrigation. Customers should switch off irrigation timers to prevent irrigating during periods of sufficient rain.
- Limit or eliminate non-essential usage such as washing cars, boats, power washing homes, running fountains and filling swimming pools.
- Limit large volume household water uses such as frequent toilet flushing, clothes washing and long showers. On average in the U.S., toilet flushing accounts for almost 30-percent of household monthly water use while washing clothes makes up 20-percent and showers account for 18-percent.
- Limit construction use of fire hydrant lines, such as contractor flushing of new water lines. These voluntary water conservation measures apply to MPW's 29,000 metered customer, which serve more than 71,000 residents in the East Cooper region.
Drought Status
The South Carolina Drought Response Committee issued an Incipient Drought status for Charleston County this week. The last drought status announcement was made in the summer of 2002 when the status was elevated to Extreme Drought, which is the worst-case classification for drought and allows local governments to impose mandatory water restrictions.
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--Press Room
