News Release

Huntsville Utilities Request Water Customers to Voluntarily Reduce Their Water Use

August 14, 2007

Huntsville Utilities officials today renewed a request that water customers voluntarily reduce their water use.

The Huntsville Utilities Water System established a record for the amount of water pumped in a single day Monday when 74.1 million gallons of water were pumped from the Utilities' water plants and wells. The previous record demand for water was 73.5 million gallons set on June 14 this year.

On June 19, Huntsville Utilities asked water customers to begin taking efforts to conserve water as north Alabama struggled with the extreme drought conditions. Following a reduction in use and several very beneficial rains, the call for conservation was ended on July 16.

The extreme heat of the past two weeks, along with a lack of rainfall, has once again pushed the demand for water to record levels.

"We have again been running the water system in excess of 80% of capacity, and with the prospect of the drought conditions continuing, we feel it is prudent to renew the call for conservation efforts to protect the water system," stated utility spokesman Bill Yell.

Along with providing water to over 80,000 customers in the city of Huntsville, Huntsville Utilities provides wholesale water service to the towns of New Hope and Triana as well as Redstone Arsenal.

During the last several days, Huntsville Utilities has also been providing up to 6 million gallons of water daily to the Madison County Water System, to the city of Madison and through a connection with the Madison County System, to the Harvest Monrovia Water System.

"If our flow does not decrease with our new call for voluntary restrictions, we will require the systems that are purchasing supplemental water from us to move to mandatory restrictions," Yell stated.

It is crucial that customers begin reducing the amount of lawn watering so that the water systems in our area can continue to maintain safe operating levels of water in their systems, Yell added.

Customers are asked to take the following steps in this conservation effort:

-Reduce the amount of lawn watering.
-Water lawns during the early morning hours when temperatures and wind speed are the lowest. This reduces loss from evaporation.
-Position sprinklers so that the water lands on the lawn and shrubs, not on the street, driveway or sidewalk.
-Regularly check sprinkler systems and timing devices to be sure they are operating properly.
-Do not leave sprinklers or hoses unattended.
-Check all hoses, connectors and spigots regularly and repair leaks.

Huntsville Utilities provides water service to over 80,000 customers in the city of Huntsville and provides wholesale water to several water agencies within Madison County.