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Reclaimed water usage hits its limit
By DEBORAH HIRSCH Reclaimed water sprinklers are running dry in North Pinellas.
So far, officials report sufficient supplies of reclaimed water in Clearwater and Largo. But in Dunedin and in unincorporated Pinellas County, residents are not happy about the restrictions. "They sold us a system that should have been unlimited and it's not," said Chris Miller of Dunedin. "I know people have a tendency to water more, but some extra water doesn't make up for this drought. I have reservations about the adequacy of the system." Overuse of the water, possibly resulting from people's reactions to the hot weather, has put a strain on many systems around the county, said Todd Tanberg, director of alternative water sources for the county utilities department. The county's northern reclaimed water system circulates 6.7-million gallons daily, but lately the demand has reached 7.4-million gallons, depleting storage pond reserves. The low water levels prompted the decision to shut off the county service twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays beginning May 27. Similar restrictions were imposed two years ago, lasting about three weeks. Tanberg said early next week he will send reclaimed water customers letters warning of the cutoffs, which could last until rainfall increases around mid June. A lack of reclaimed water came as a surprise to Dunedin users. More than 100 customers called the city's reclaimed water department to find out why their service had been interrupted this week. Utilities officials shut off service to different parts of the city on a rotating schedule, but they didn't tell any of their customers beforehand. "I don't have a problem limiting my water like that -- I just want to be informed," said Dunedin resident Julie Lachman. "I do believe people abuse the system." The city didn't give advance notice because officials were still testing geographical zones and times for a water restriction schedule, said Irvin Kety, the city's water division director. "We would have gladly done it, but we walked in Monday to a crisis situation and had to respond," said Ken Stidham, director of wastewater. Dunedin circulates 4-million gallons of reclaimed water per day, but even 5.5-million stored gallons was not enough to keep pressure in the system after heavy use last weekend. Since it would take too long to implement voluntary or mandatory restrictions, Stidham said, interrupting the water supply seemed the best quick fix. So Monday morning, the department stopped running reclaimed water to half of Dunedin south of San Christopher Drive. Residents north of the drive to Curlew Road were restricted on Tuesday. On Wednesday, all users in the city had access. On Thursday, the cycle began again, only this time the dividing boundary had moved to Michigan Boulevard. "First we tried to do half the city but really we need to do half the customers, and that's why the change," Stidham said. Starting Monday, the south side of the city will have reclaimed water on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, and the north side will have it Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Everyone is asked not to water on Wednesday. Water will be turned on at 9 a.m., and Michigan Boulevard remains the border between north and south. Reclaimed water department workers will hang doorknob notices to inform customers of the changes sometime next week. The watering restrictions will last until the demand goes back to normal, whether that comes before or after rain, Stidham said. This is the first time Dunedin has imposed emergency restrictions on its reclaimed water system since it was built in 1992. "We're somewhat embarrassed about being caught off guard and not having a plan in place," Stidham said. "This is not going to happen again." Watering every day is critical for new golf course sod at the Dunedin Country Club, said groundskeeper Neal Popham. The country club was one of the city's first major reclaimed water customers. An average resident only goes through about 30,000 gallons of water, costing 50 cents per 1,000 gallons, over a two-month period. The country club uses an excess of 400,000 gallons of water almost every day. "We've been encouraged to use water, and then all of a sudden we go from plenty of water to, 'Hey, you're not going to get any water,' " Popham said. "How can we go from everything is roses to everything is a catastrophe?" In St. Petersburg, by contrast, Mayor Rick Baker imposed mandatory restrictions that limit reclaimed watering to three days a week. Enforcement staff members are working extra hours to warn or fine violators. They've issued more than 30 warnings. Since the St. Petersburg system is so extensive, it would not be feasible to try cutting off the water supply like Dunedin is doing, said Robert Labrie, water systems coordinator.
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From the Times North Pinellas desks |
Since Monday, 2,700 customers of Dunedin's reclaimed water department found themselves without service as officials attempted to alleviate low pressure problems. And in nine days, 500 users of the county's reclaimed water system will be cut off twice a week from their unlimited supply.
