Chatham commissioners adopt a revised water conservation ordinance

Posted Thursday, February 21, 2008

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Pittsboro, NC - On Feb. 18, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners adopted a revised water conservation ordinance that promotes year-round conservation, while allowing certain types of outdoor watering on specified days. The revised ordinance is effective immediately.

“The intent is to promote customers using conservation strategies all year so that we can preserve the water supply in Jordan Lake and reduce high-peak demand days that strain our water system,” said David Hughes, director of Chatham County Public Works.

“If we can reduce those high peaks, it will help prevent costly expansions of water facilities to meet that demand,” he added.

The revisions allow county water system customers served by the Jordan Lake Treatment Plant (northeastern Chatham only) to use automated irrigation on two specified days per week to apply up to one inch of water per week.

“This ordinance does not apply to northeastern county residents who get water service from Cary or to county water customers outside the northeast,” Hughes said.

The county’s new irrigation schedule is:

Governors Club, odd-numbered addresses: Tuesday and Friday
Governors Club, even-numbered addresses: Monday and Thursday
Carolina Meadows, odd-numbered addresses: Tuesday and Friday
Carolina Meadows, even-numbered addresses: Wednesday and Saturday
Carolina Meadows Golf Course: Wednesday and Sunday
Big Woods Subdivision: Monday and Thursday
Fearrington Village: Tuesday and Saturday
All other addresses: Wednesday and Sunday

“Regardless of when you water, your irrigation system must have automatic controllers and moisture sensors,” Hughes said.

"This means that if we’ve had recent rainfall or the soil is sufficiently moist, the irrigation system should not apply water. If it does activate during these periods, the customer will be in violation of the ordinance.”

Other types of prohibited water uses are:

• Watering landscaping or using water to clean vehicles, equipment or hard surfaces (driveways, parking lots, etc.) to the extent that water overflows the area and runs onto adjacent property or public right-of-way;
• Applying water to the extent that the water ponds or pools on hard surfaces, such as driveways, concrete pads, patios or parking lots; and
• Losing water through plumbing leaks that can be readily identified and repaired.

Roy Lowder, director of Water Utilities, said that “all water leaks must be repaired within 10 days of being detected.”

Several irrigation activities are allowed without following the watering schedule and restrictions outlined above unless a major water shortage or emergency is in effect, including:

• Irrigation required to establish newly seeded or sodded lawns and landscaping for up to 30 days after planting;
• Irrigation due to chemical treatments that require immediate watering to preserve or establish landscaping;
• Water used to control dust or compact soil when other methods are unavailable;
• Visually-supervised testing of watering systems for short periods of time;
• Water needed to address health, safety, or accident hazards when other options are unavailable;
• Water used for construction or maintenance activities when water is the most appropriate choice and when other practical options are not available;
• Water used for firefighting, training of firefighters, testing of fire hoses, and similar types of emergency responder uses; and
• Water used for other special purposes, such as flushing out garbage trucks or removing unsanitary materials, when no other alternative exists and provided that the least amount of water needed to complete the task is used.

Lowder reminds residents and businesses that violations of the water conservation ordinance will lead to penalties.

The penalties are: a written warning for the first violation; $250 per occurrence for the second violation; $500 per occurrence for the third violation; and disconnection from county water service for a fourth violation.

All fines will be added to the customer’s water bill and must be paid as part of monthly bill payment, said Lowder.

For more information, call 919-542-8270 or click here.