Water Reduction Request Could Last All Summer

There is no timeline in place for the end of the water alert that has been in place in Harrison since early July, but there are no plans to make the usage requests mandatory, Harrison Mayor/Supervisor Joan Walsh said on Tuesday.

Although temperatures have subsided somewhat since a heat wave brought triple-digit temperatures to the area last month, the alert will not be lifted until consistent rainfall reduces some of the area's water use.

"You can't tell," Walsh said when asked how long the request could last. "How long depends on the rainfall."

Although reservoir levels are stable, water pumps have shown lower than usual levels during peak-use hours this summer because more people are using water. The pumps could lose pressure in higher elevated areas in Purchase and West Harrison if usage requests are ignored.

But there have been no complaints of reduced pressure so far and enough people have followed the water-use guidelines that there are no plans to make the requests mandatory at this point, according to Walsh.

"There have been enough thunderstorms that it is okay," Walsh said. "And people have adjusted their sprinkler systems."

The hot and humid temperatures this summer have led to the first reduction requests during the mayor's short tenure. She does, however, remember when use-reductions became mandatory several years ago. There were no issues with water-use last summer.

"We didn't have the heat and humidity for a long period," Walsh said. "You just use more water."

Walsh said that the Westchester Joint Water Works, which provides water to Harrison, West Harrison and Purchase as well as several surrounding areas, has a monitoring system that evaluates water pressure throughout the day. The system has revealed a reduction in water-use during peak hours -- meaning that at least some people have followed the request.

She also said that the monitoring system would let her and the WJWW know if water-pressure immediately threatened to reduce pressure in individual homes and that she would consider mandatory water-use reductions if that became an issue.