Insight: Water Restrictions in Clarence-Rockland

In this episode, TVC22 host Thomas Stockting talks with the City of Clarence-Rockland's Director of Infrastructure about local drinking water issues. 

Having to conserve on municipal drinking water is not an issue unique to this year, nor is it one faced solely by the municipality of Clarence-Rockland, according to the city's Director of Infrastructure Mr. Julian Lenhart. 

With the warmer summer weather setting in during the months of June and July, residents hooked up to the municipal water network almost double their water usage explained Mr. Lenhart, with the crux of the issue being outside usage such as filling up swimming pools and water lawns. 

The water treatment plant in Clarence-Rockland has the ability to produce approximately 7500-8000 cubic meters of water on a daily bases, a very similar number to amount used daily by local residents during these months of the year. 

What causes the issue for the City is that, not only do they arrive at a point where they cannot refill the local water towers quickly enough overnight before consumption resumes in the morning but that the water usage during this time of year is exponentially higher than throughout the rest of the year. 

When asked "why not simply make more water", Mr. Lenhart explained that due to the disparity between the yearly average and the consumption during the peak months, they cannot put a system in place to compensate without causing other issues. 

Having a larger system means it not being used to capacity throughout the rest of the year, leading to issues such as erratic water pressure and potential bacterial growth, amongst others problems.