Conserve Water In Union County, NJ American Water Asks

UNION COUNTY, NJ — Amid the current heat wave, with temperatures soaring in the high 90s this week, New Jersey American Water is asking Union County customers to conserve water now to avoid possible restrictions later.

NJ American Water advises customers to practice odd/even watering on their lawns and gardens to help the company manage a finite supply of water.

“Our systems are currently operating normally at expected capacity, but we are seeing a steep increase in demands across these counties,” said Tom Shroba, vice president of operations at New Jersey American Water. “Adopting an odd/even schedule for outdoor watering will have minimal impacts on the individual customer but will provide a significant relief in demand on our source of supply.”

The odd/even guidelines are:

• Outdoor water use on odd-numbered days of the month if your street address is an odd number (i.e., 23 Oak St., 7 Maple Ave.)
• Outdoor water use on even-numbered days of the month if your street address is an even number (i.e., 6 Oak St., 354 Maple Ave.)
• Water early or late in the day to minimize evaporation

Exceptions are:

• Watering of new sod or seed if daily watering is required (Note: it is recommended that any planting of new sod or seed that has not already taken place be delayed until the fall)
• Use of private wells for irrigation
• Commercial uses of outdoor water, such as for nurseries, farm stands, power washing, plumbing, athletic fields, and car washes
• Watering of athletic fields

Besides Union, the company asked customers in Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset counties to consider alternating days for outdoor watering.

Additional tips and information on wise water use are available on New Jersey American Water’s website at www.newjerseyamwater.com under Water Information.

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