CLINTON–As a bad drought continues across Connecticut, more and more water companies are asking customers to do their part to conserve as much water as possible.
On Monday, Connecticut Water asked their customers to voluntarily reduce water usage by 10 percent to extend the life of the current water supply. Those living on the shoreline in Guilford, Madison, Clinton, Westbrook and Old Saybrook are further asked to reduce usage by 15 percent.
“We currently have an adequate supply of water for our customers’ needs but we are taking these steps to ensure we will continue to have enough water for those needs should the drought continue,” said David Connors, director of service delivery for Connecticut Water.
Connecticut Water, which supplies 56 communities, is monitoring water levels, and will change the voluntary conservation request if the situation in the reservoirs change. Currently, they are lower than normal as 85 percent of the state remains in a severe drought, while the rest is in a moderate drought. At least part of the state has been in a severe drought since the beginning of August, but the entire state has seen some drought activity for about two years now.
There’s no significant rain in the forecast that will put a dent in the drought, but you can find our full weather report here.
Before the drought took hold, earlier this year Connecticut Water asked customers to voluntarily reduce water usage by 10 percent, with the promise of a $30 credit on their bill. So far, approximately 5,000 of their 90,000 customers took them up on the offer and have conserved roughly 9 million gallons of water so far this year.