Mercer County Executive Issues Statement on Drought Watch

One day after the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection placed Mercer County under a Drought Watch, County Executive Brian M. Hughes issued the following statement:

“Fresh, clean water is a limited resource, and occurrences such as droughts further limit access to clean and fresh water, meaning people need to take steps to reduce water use and save as much water as possible. People should always do their best to conserve water for today and for our future generations”

Mercer County offered the following suggestions on how to conserve water today during this water crisis:

• Wash only full loads in your dishwasher and washing machine.
• Turn off the faucet when lathering hands, shaving or brushing teeth.
• Use “recycled” water (leftover drinking water, water used to rinse vegetables and to boil food, for example) to water plants or garden before filling a watering can from the tap.
• Take shorter showers. Reducing a 10-minute shower to five minutes will save 12.5 gallons of water if the showerhead has a flow rate of 2.5 gallons per minute.
• If you must water your lawn, do so during the coolest part of the day to reduce water loss from evaporation, and avoid overwatering your lawn or garden
• Sweep driveways, sidewalks and steps, rather than hosing them off.
• Wash vehicles at a car wash that recycles its water. If washing vehicles at home, make sure the hose has a shutoff valve.
• Fix leaks, including leaky toilets, pipes and fixtures.

Mercer County is one of 12 counties in the Central, Northeast and Coastal North that were placed under the watch. The others include Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset and Union.