Sauk Rapids Water Tower Project Prompts Conservation Reminder for Residents

(KNSI) – Sauk Rapids residents may need to rethink their lawn-watering habits this summer as the city takes one of its water towers offline for repairs.

The city is refurbishing one of its water towers and has to drain it for the work, a step that will sharply cut the city’s available water capacity until the project wraps up. Officials estimate the reconditioning will take about eight weeks.

With the tower out of service and warm-weather water use already climbing, the city is reminding residents of its Odd/Even Sprinkling Schedule Ordinance. The ordinance also urges residents not to irrigate their lawns between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. each day, when more water is lost to evaporation.

The bigger concern for residents is what happens if conservation efforts fall short. The city says that if water usage rises, it will be required to put additional water-use reduction measures or system water limitations in place. In other words, the current request to conserve could turn into firmer restrictions if demand stays high while the tower is down.

To help households cut back, the city offered a series of conservation tips. Outdoors, it suggests watering grass only as needed since most lawns require about one inch of water per week, mulching trees and plants to slow evaporation, leaving grass clippings in place to shade the soil, letting grass grow a little longer, checking hoses and sprinklers for leaks, and using a rain barrel to collect water for gardens.

Indoors, the city recommends fixing running toilets, shutting off the tap while shaving or brushing teeth, choosing showers over baths and installing low-flow showerheads, running only full loads of laundry and dishes, and using water-efficient appliances marked with the WaterSense label.

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