07/11/12 Monday evening Plymouth’s Utility Superintendent, Donnie Davidson told members of the Board of Public Works and Safety he received notification from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) of a “Water Shortage Warning.”
The City of Plymouth like other water withdrawal facilities which use more than 100,000 gallons of water per day received notice due to the drought. Parts of Marshall County are within the extreme drought intensity area.
Davidson said, “Both government agencies are recommending voluntary conservation efforts to avoid potential future water shortages.” He continued, “Reduction is water usage by 10 to 15% is recommended.” Davidson said there is a recommendation to review and update if necessary the utility’s emergency contingency plans for the City’s system and to also provide the status of the plans to IDEM.
The city has taken steps is conserving water including a reduction of sewer cleaning operations to the minimum, but not so low that is jeopardizes customer property, utilizing unidirectional hydrant flushing techniques reduce water used in main flushing by 30 to 50%.
Davidson asked for the public’s assistance in conserving water too by reducing the frequency and amount of lawn sprinkling, not washing down sidewalks and driveways and covering swimming pools to limit the evaporation of water.
The city has seen an 18.4% increase in the average daily water usage comparing June 2011 to June 2012.
The utility superintendent said, “We have been in contact with our well maintenance operation specialists on what they are seeing. We were informed that systems such as ours, a deep well – ground water system currently is in good condition.” The explained, “Areas of more immediate concern are surface water systems, which receive their water supply from lakes, reservoirs and rivers.”
