Residents Urged to Conserve Water

If you have experienced a dip in your water pressure, here is an explanation from Scarsdale Village Manager Al Gatta, about what is happenig with our supply:

According to Al, " The Village is experiencing water pressure problems as are many water utilities for three basic reasons:

 1- The City of New York is delayed in repairing a main feeder line to the Village of Scarsdale that was scheduled to be completed on June 5, 2010;

 2 -The Village has about a six-month delay in the upgrade of the Ardsley Road Pump Station because of environmental factors not anticipated in the original specifications. For example, PCBs in the paint from the 1950’s, large amounts of lead in the paint and more extensive work related to the removal of asbestos. Current environmental regulations require absolute removal of these potential hazardous items.

 3-The mandatory lawn water restriction imposed by the Village Board has not been successful in curtailing the watering of lawns from 1am until 8:30am.

There were two fires in White Plains on July 7 which caused great havoc in the Village in regard to the water use and pressure. The electrical substation in White Plains was shut down and damaged because of the fire that impacted the water pumps at the Reeves Newsome Station. That station supplies water to all of Scarsdale and had to be operated on emergency generation that does not pack the energy to maintain water pressure. Thus, some residents had very little water for a short period of time.

In addition, the fire on Post Road in White Plains was a big one that forced the City of White Plains to use 25 million gallons of water which is twice their usual summer water usage of approximately 12 million gallons per day. This reduced the water volume and pressure to Scarsdale. In regard to general summer consumption, we are not pleased with the continued use of high volumes of water for lawn watering and the lack of compliance with mandatory restrictions imposed by the Village Board. The restrictions are on the Village’s web page."

In addition to the lawn watering restrictions imposed by Scarsdale, residents are also being asked to conserve water by Westchester County. Due to work that the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) is doing inside the Kensico Dam there are limitations on supply. During the construction we are receiving our water from a diversion system that was set up by the NYCDEP. The fire in White Plains on July 7 put additional strain on resources so residents are being asked to cut back usage.

If usage is too high, it could result in reduced water pressure, disruptions in service and possible mandatory restrictions, similar to those put in place in drought situations.

Construction began last year and will last through the fall. As water consumption usually increases during the summer months, conservation is more critical now. Peak water usage also occurs during the early morning hours each day. To reduce water usage, residents have been asked to:

• Limit lawn watering
• Take shorter showers
• Fix leaks
• Avoid unnecessary toilet flushes
• Refrain from running water while shaving or brushing your teeth

Additional tips on water conservation can be found at: www.westchestergov.com/wateragency. And if you have questions, contact the Westchester County Water Agency at (914) 995-4425.