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Low rivers, high temperatures put Seattle in ‘advisory’ water warning phase

Screen Shot 2015-07-27 at 10.26.20 AMIt fits in with this “End of Days” theme around Seattle right now. Seattle Public Utilities has announced the city has been put in a preliminary “advisory” phase of rapidly declining water levels due to low rivers and high temperatures:

The first stage in each city’s response plan is “advisory.” It’s issued when utilities believe a potential water supply problem may exist.  During this time Everett, Seattle and Tacoma are asking customers to carefully manage their water use and make sure they are not wasting water.

“If conditions worsen, each city may move to the ‘voluntary’ phase of water shortage response and ask customers to reduce the amount of water they normally use each day,” according to the announcement from SPU and utilities in Everett and Tacoma.

The cities are making operational changes and activating supplementary water supplies “in an effort to stretch their water supplies as far as possible.”

Officials included tips for reducing water usage in the announcement:

· Watering early or late: Water before 8 a.m. or after 7 p.m., which reduces evaporation.

· Watering deeply, but infrequently: It’s better to have one or two deep waterings, rather than several shallow waterings.

· Fixing leaks: Fix obvious indoor and outdoor leaks such as at faucets, hose bibs and sprinkler spray heads. Check for less obvious leaks such as silent toilet leaks. Put several drops of food coloring in your toilet tank; after 10 minutes if you have color in the toilet bowl, you have a flapper leak.

· Washing vehicles wisely: Wash your vehicle(s) at locations that recycle their water.

· Using a broom, not a hose: Use a broom, rather than a hose, to clean sidewalks, driveways and patios.

· Washing full loads: Wait until your clothes washer and dishwasher are full before starting.

“Everett, Seattle and Tacoma are all fortunate to have robust water supplies that allow the water utilities to meet customer needs for water and contribute to healthy fish populations,” the announcement says. “Available supplies this year have declined more quickly than is typical.”

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dizzspazz
dizzspazz
8 years ago

Is there a way to report water wasters? The Bella Vista apartments on E. Mercer have been watering their bushes and just leave the water on all afternoon and through the night to the point where water is just running down the sidewalk. It been 3 days in a row of that this week. WTF? I think that goes way beyond the “deep watering”suggestion.