North Salem Town Supervisor Sounds Alert That Water Is Running Low

From North Salem Town Supervisor Warren Lucas on August 29, 2022:

We have already had some of the private water systems in Town run low or out of water. These systems are trucking water in to make up for wells that are running dry and that is an expensive proposition.

Please be aware of your water use. There is no magic bullet short of trucking in water to resolve these problems.

If you have your own well, which probably 60 percent of the homes in Town have, they are not immune to low water levels either. Everyone in Town gets their water from aquifers and someone depleting their well near you can often affect the water level in your well also. Be considerate of the levels of water in the aquifers.

The forecast over the next 10 days shows no rain and so it will only get worse before some larger fall storms arrive to replenish the water levels in our aquifers.

• Please water plants minimally, your lawn will go brown and come back next spring. Keeping it green is not a good use of water at this time.
• Please do not wash your cars at home if you are in a water district. Go to a car wash where they filter and reuse water.
• If you have choices coming up to make about appliances please purchase ones, especially washing machines, that use less water.
• Do not refill pools or hot tubs. We had one gentlemen who emptied and refilled his hot tube after each use.
• One of the biggest culprits is a running toilet. These can use 750 gallons of water a day. If you think a toilet tank is not sealing properly but you are not sure, close the water valve behind the toilet and check the tank in 30 minutes. If the tank is empty your toilet is leaking. Another telltale sign is a toilet tank that has a lot of moisture on the outside as the water inside is cold all the time with new water constantly flowing in. Most toilets are easy to fix by putting in a new flapper which costs $10 at home depot. There are a lot of videos on how to do this on YouTube. Here is one; https://youtu.be/U1Gv2bnsPVQ

Be safe and don't run your well dry.

Warren Lucas

This release comes from the North Salem Town Supervisor. The views expressed here are the author’s own.