New Jersey American Water has issued a mandatory outdoor water ban advisory for its customers within Monmouth and Ocean Counties due to an operational issue at one of its primary water treatment plants and increased high water demands.
A message on its website says that there is an even/odd schedule in place, but a spokeswoman said today that they are having a technical problem with the website and are unable to post an update to it. "We are under an outdoor water use ban right now. We hope to be able to lift this and instead order mandatory odd/even watering later today if all goes well," said Denise V. Free at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.
“The recent extreme heat wave has prompted customers to increase their water usage significantly over the last few days,” stated Carmen Tierno, senior director of Operations. “We are putting this restriction in place to support our ability to continue to provide water and fire protection services to our customers.”
Earlier today, impacted customers were notified via the company’s emergency notification system, asking them to eliminate outdoor water use such as watering of lawns, washing cars and filling of pools until further notice.
Since late spring, the company has requested that customers in its Monmouth and Ocean county service areas use an odd/even watering schedule through the end of summer.
The company is now requiring the temporary ban of the following outdoor water activities:
- Watering lawns
- Landscape irrigation
- Residential car washing
- Filling of pools
“New Jersey American Water thanks its Monmouth and Ocean County customers for their cooperation in using odd/even watering practices since late spring and now in this mandatory outdoor watering restriction. We urge all customers to continue to use water wisely indoors and out throughout the summer to continue to ensure a plentiful supply for everyone,” Tierno added.
The company will issue a follow up communication when this restriction is able to be lifted. Updates are also available on the website at www.newjerseyamwater.com, under Alerts.