Ensuring Water Quality Is Priority for NTMWD

Once a Week Watering Permitted Through End of October 2014

Effective September 1, 2014, to ensure water quality is maintained throughout the water distribution systems, North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) is recommending its Member Cities and Customers to allow landscape watering once a week with sprinklers or irrigation systems through the end of October 2014. Water customers should verify their specific watering day schedule with their City or appropriate water provider.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requires that water providers maintain chlorine residuals in transmission and distribution systems to assure water quality so that the treated water supply is safe for use. Annually, chlorine residuals are depleted by increases in temperature during summer months. During the summer of 2014, NTMWD consumers have reduced their water usage so well that maintaining chlorine residuals has been compounded by the decreased demands.

To maintain water quality, NTMWD’s Member Cities and Customers perform flushing of hydrants to remove the water that has decreased chlorine residuals. To improve the circulation and increase the water flow within the water systems, allowance of once per week watering with sprinkler or irrigation systems will assist in maintaining the required chlorine residuals. NTMWD Member Cities and Customers will continue to monitor water quality within their systems.

The combinations of periodic summer rain events and reduced water usage facilitates the NTMWD’s ability to move to once per week watering for the two month period of September and October, While water quality remains the top priority, water conservation and the wise use of water is still critical to maintain our current available supplies until the drought eases. Lavon Lake is currently at elevation 480.27’ and the once-per-week watering allowance should only decrease Lavon Lake’s elevation by less than 2 feet and still not require initiation of Stage 4.

NTMWD would like to thank all our consumers again for your tremendous conservation efforts this summer. You have demonstrated that informed customers will do the right things to conserve!

To receive a recommendation for how much supplemental water your lawn actually needs based on weather conditions, sign up at www.WaterMyYard.org. More information and tips on water conservation can be found at www.northtexaswateriq.org and www.ntmwd.com.