June 26, 2008

• Key water line back online since late yesterday
• Weekend watering ban lifted for customers south of I-85
• Other conservation rules still in effect during drought

CHARLOTTE, NC – One of the City's largest drinking water lines is back in service, and Utilities officials say it's OK to return to one weekend day of outdoor water use for customers south of Interstate 85.

Effective at 12:01 a.m. Saturday (6/28/08), mandatory water use restrictions for all customers of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities are amended as follows:

• Lawn watering or sprinkler use, residential car-washing and filling of swimming pools or fountains is not allowed during weekdays.
• Customers with addresses ending in an odd number may water lawns, wash cars and fill pools/fountains on Saturdays.
• Customers with addresses ending in an even number may water lawns, wash cars and fill pools/fountains on Sundays.

Remember - your one watering day ends at midnight. More details about water use restrictions and drought are available by visiting www.cmutilities.com.

These water restrictions remain necessary due to the continuing Stage 3 drought. They are the same rules that were in effect prior to the June 13 discovery of a leak on the 54-inch main along Providence Road. The complex repair that followed required taking the major pipe out of service, and it was necessary last weekend to implement a more extensive, temporary weekend watering ban for all customers south of Interstate 85. "Folks have done a good job conserving, and the 54-inch main is back online thanks to the dedication and continuous work of a lot of folks during the past couple of weeks," Utilities spokesman Vic Simpson said. "We're urging folks to keep following restrictions - and otherwise conserve our natural resources - because the drought's still very much upon us."

While Utilities officials confirm the 54-inch pipe outage may have led to some secondary pipe leaks and breaks last week, we have been back to responding to a normal volume of water line service calls and repairs for several days now.