City of Regina pleads for 25% drop in water use

The City of Regina is still struggling to keep up with demand for water this week.

On Wednesday, city officials pleaded again for residents to cut back on watering lawns, washing cars and taking long showers.

• Conserve water, Regina asks

The city first asked people to conserve wateron Monday, but today said there's been almost zero drop in water usage.

"We've seen a small decline, but not as much as we need," said Pat Wilson, director of water works for the City of Regina. "Ideally, we'd like to have the volume used that we typically see in the winter, which is about 25 per centless than we are currently using."

Wilson said the city has already decided not to open spray pads or fill outdoor pools until the situation improves.

It has also approached the biggest commercial and industrial water customers in the city and asked them to cut back.

The city turned to its eightreserve wells to add extra capacity this week, but Wilson said that's still not enough.

The water treatment plant at Buffalo Pound is struggling with poor water quality, even though there is a lot of water in the lake.

Turbidity, algaeand hot weather are all causing problems.

Wilson said it's not known yet when the restrictions will be lifted. For now, residents are also being asked to only do full loads of laundry and dishes, and only water lawns if absolutely necessary.