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An additional water source and the overwhelming compliance with the water ban by 80,000 residents in Ottawa’s southern suburbs over the past 50 days convinced city leaders to loosen the restrictions on outdoor water use in Barrhaven, Riverside South and Manotick.
Mayor Jim Watson on Tuesday morning announced a rotating plan allowing different zones in the ban-affected areas to use water on designated days of the week and for limited purposes.
“We recognize that, if people don’t follow these new rules, then we’ll have to reinstate the complete ban,” said Watson, who made the announcement on the Barrhaven lawn of the Joanis family, surrounded by other councillors and three members of the Joanis clan.
“But we feel very confident that the monitoring that has been done by our staff tells us that in fact we can offer this service.”
He added that there had been “extremely good co-operation” from residents in the affected area – not a single fine has been issued for breaking the ban – which also led officials to believe that residents would continue to comply with the ban under the new, if less straightforward, rules.
Compliance with the city’s water ban in the southern suburbs has been good enough that the city is changing the rules to allow residents in different neighbourhoods to use some water outdoors on rotating days of the week.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in our community,” Gloucester-South Nepean Councillor Steve Desroches said. “I’m sure neighbours will talk to each other, and I’m confident that they’ll be well-informed” about the new guidelines.
Outdoor water uses have been prohibited since April 27 while a contractor working for the city replaces a major water pipe running under Woodroffe Avenue, which failed years sooner than expected. The southern communities are being served in the meantime by a much smaller pipe, and, if too many people use too much water, the pressure in the system could fall, allowing groundwater to seep in and contaminate the city water.
Last week, though, more water capacity was added to the system after the contractor hooked up a bypass to another nearby water network running along Hunt Club Road. It’s that extra water capacity that is allowing the ban to be partially lifted.
Residents will be allowed to use water for certain activities on a single day per week, depending on where they live. On their assigned days, residents of the south-end communities will be allowed to use their hoses to fill their rain barrels and water plants and flowers, as well as to fill kiddie pools and rinse out green bins, two of the biggest complaints among affected residents.
People are not allowed to wash their cars, driveways or hook up their hoses to any sort of device, such as a sprinkler or pressure washer. Businesses, including commercial car washes, are not allowed to use outdoor water during this partial relaxation of the ban.
Residents will also be able to use an electronic tool on the city’s website, ottawa.ca, where they can enter an address to find out what day they are allowed to use water outside, or call 311 for information.
The complete ban throughout the area will still be in force on weekends, when demand for water is higher as people do chores, such as laundry. However, the city will open the area’s eight public splash pads on Saturdays and Sundays in an effort to provide relief from the heat expected over the next couple of weeks.
Other cities have instituted rotating water-restriction measures during the heat of the summer, such as instructing even-and odd-numbered homes to use water outdoors on different days, but Ottawa officials fear that allowing half the residents of the whole affected area to use water at one time could put the drinking-water supply at risk.
The outdoor ban came as a shock to the affected residents when it was announced almost two months ago. Since then, city staff and contractors have been working at breakneck speed to get the water system up and running, including working around the clock in several instances.
Indeed, the planned end of the outdoor water prohibition has been moved forward several times al-ready. Officials had said the ban could be lifted at the end of August, but that was updated to mid-July, and last week Watson announced it would be over by July 15. At the time, he said workers were trying to finish the project even sooner.
In the meantime, the city has topped up more than 2,000 pools and hot tubs, and provided water trucks at busy locations throughout the area for filling containers. The city has also offered affected residents a $50 rebate for rain barrels.
“I think it’s been a challenge for people,” Desroches said of the ban, although he pointed out that the rain had helped. “People take pride in their homes and gardening is a recreational activity for many people.”
Perhaps the outdoor water prohibition has been a hardship for some, but that doesn’t include the Joanis family.
The most striking things about their home are the green grass – thanks in large part to the recent rain – and their lush gardens.
“It’s really been an eye-opening experience because you realize you can do it,” Pam Joanis said of gardening during the water ban. Her husband, Mike, said that the water bill for their home was less than half what it had been for the same period last year. He also said that he had hooked up a pump to one of their five rain barrels to be able to wash their car during the ban.
“It really hasn’t affected us too much,” Pam said.
CHANGES TO THE SOUTH-END WATER BAN
CHANGES TO THE SOUTH-END WATER BAN
On your watering day DO:
. Use a garden hose to water plants, gardens, trees and shrubs by hand
. Fill kiddie pools, rain barrels and other containers
. Use a hose to clean your green bin
The partial outdoor water ban prohibits:
. All unattended sprinklers, pressure washers and in-ground watering or irrigation systems
. Vehicle washing
. Pool and hot tub fillings or top-ups with a garden hose
. Unattended watering
. Watering on weekends
. Outdoor cleaning or driveway washing
. Use of water by commercial car washes, construction and other businesses
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