New Britain Issues Water Supply Alert
By Robin Vinci | Editor at October 13, 2023 | 2:30 pm | Print
The City is urging residents to take small measures to conserve water as it issued a Water Supply Alert on Wednesday.
The Water Supply Alert is the first of five drought response stages. The designation does not institute mandatory water conservation measures.
The Water Supply Alert is reached when the Water Department’s total storage in its reservoirs are between 15 percent and 25 percent below average when compared to previous levels in other years; the level as of Oct. 11, 2016 was measured at 22.9 percent below average.
“We have been receiving a lot of inquiries from residents who have seen how low some of our reservoirs look,” said Gilbert Bligh, water department director. “However, we still have an adequate supply of water. We urge residents to take voluntary water conservation measures, such as limiting the watering of things like lawns, gardens, driveways, and sidewalks.”
Mayor Erin Stewart said the situation is getting pretty bad and the rain last weekend was not enough.
“We have been at this level for quite some time now, but it is getting worse and worse,” Stewart said. “We are 15-25 percent below average and it is scary. We don’t want to get to the second level and pray mother nature works with us.”
Other tips to conserve water include: shut off water when brushing teeth, be aware of how long your shower is, don’t water grass, wash dishes only when there is a full load and don’t run your washing machine twice a day.
“New Britain is not alone in being affected by this drought that has impacted much of the East Coast and United States,” said Mayor Stewart. “While our water supplies are low compared to previous years, we are actively monitoring usage and taking proactive steps at our many auxiliary water sources that are located both in New Britain and neighboring towns to supplement our supplies.”
If water supplies were to drop further and reached the 25 to 35 percent below average threshold, a Water Supply Advisory would be issued. The New Britain Water Department’s Emergency Contingency Plan would call for residential, commercial, and industrial customers to voluntarily reduce water consumption by 10 percent and to begin preparing for mandatory conservation.
The reservoirs are currently at around 39.72 percent capacity, according to Bligh.
The last time the New Britain Water Department issued a Water Supply Alert was on Nov. 27, 2007.
Historically, the New Britain Water Department’s annual low arrives around November 1 and typically rebounds to about 65 percent capacity after December 1.
“We supply not only 75,000 residents of the City with water, but customers in Bristol, Berlin and Plainville. We need to be aware of all of that,” said Stewart. “We do have backups upon back-ups, but when all are starting to be drained it triggers a response.”
