Residents of Bismarck, the City of Lincoln and customers of the South Central Regional Water District are urged to continue responsible, voluntary outdoor water use this weekend and to adhere to the three-day a week lawn watering schedule. This is particularly important with the high temperatures we’re experiencing to ensure that we have an adequate, treated water supply for our residents. Residents of even-numbered homes are encouraged to water on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Residents of odd-numbered homes are encouraged to water on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
“We had extraordinary water use in the northwest area of Bismarck last weekend and have additional information to share about the detailed usage with citizens,” said Michelle Klose, Director, Bismarck Utility Operations. “The new Bismarck Water Analytics system provides us with expanded capabilities to observe water use in different areas of our system.”
Water usage the first weekend in June was very high due to the extended dry period that caused a significant increase of lawn watering by residents. The Ash Coulee water tower levels are currently at an improved level today compared to Monday. As a result, Bismarck issued a less restrictive, three-day a week lawn watering schedule and voluntary water use restriction effective June 7, 2017.
The Ash Coulee water tower provides one million gallons of treated water storage for the northwest area of Bismarck and a portion of the South Central Regional Water District. Supplied are details relating to water use specifically from the Ash Coulee water tower:
City Residents
April 2017: average 715,462 gallons per day (158 gallons a day per household)
May 2017: average 1,978,363 gallons per day (433 gallons a day per household)
June 3, 2017: 4,346,389 gallons for the one day (970 gallons a day per household)
June 4, 2017: 4,401,905 gallons for the one day (985 gallons a day per household)
South Central Regional Water District metered as one customer:
April 2017: average 4612 gallons per day
May 2017: average 143,039 gallons per day
June 3, 2017: 729,300 gallons for one day
June 4, 2017: 741,268 gallons for one day
The typical planning for drinking water systems is about a two and a half to three times increase in a peak daily summer water use, over average winter use. The change in use from April to May for South Central Regional Water District was far greater, with 31 times the increase on a peak month. The change from the average April use for the rural, to the June 4th peak daily use, was over 160 times the average winter use. The change from the average April use, to the June 4th peak daily use for the city was 6 times the average winter daily use. The combined City and rural residential water use overtaxed our system during peak use over the June 3rd weekend.
While looking at options on how we provide service in the future our goal is to provide safe drinking water and fire protection. Public safety is our first priority. Expanding a system for this extraordinary seasonal increase for lawn watering of six to seven times greater than winter use is not reasonable; however, some improvements can be made. The system needs to balance the high summer demands with the low winter use and still stay in compliance with the rigorous standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act throughout the year.
The City of Bismarck recently completed a $12 million water quality improvement project to expand water softening at the plant. Prior to the project, a portion of the water was treated with softening and then blended with other treated water before being sent to the distribution system. Now all water is sent through the softening process which provides a better quality water supply. The softening project is unrelated to the shortage we experience on Monday.
“We really appreciate the continued support of our citizens and how the residents and businesses of Bismarck, the City of Lincoln and customers of the South Central Regional Water District have continued to voluntarily restrict their water usage. Their cooperation has really made a difference,” said Klose. “I also want to extend a thank you to City staff who have worked tirelessly throughout this high water usage event.”
The City of Bismarck encourages City residents to be aware of their water consumption, in order to assist with water conservation practices. Water Analytics shows residents their water usage by year, month, day and down to the hour. Register now to set up your customer Water Analytics account, visit http://bismarcknd.gov/1699/Water-Analytics.