Water District Needs Your Help

Beginning on Sunday, Sept. 26 and continuing until Wednesday morning, Sept. 29, the Ramona Municipal Water District is requesting that all customers not use water outside of their homes.

The district receives 100 percent of its water from the San Diego County Water Authority, and the authority will stop deliveries to the district during that period to complete a pipeline repair project.

While the work is being performed, no water will be delivered to Ramona.

During this time, district customers will be served only by water that will have been put into local storage tanks before the shutdown and by an emergency connection to the city of Poway’s water treatment plant. The stored water and emergency water will provide only a fraction of the water normally used during what is typically a high demand time.

An examination of the water-use patterns of Ramona indicates that only about 25 percent to 33 percent of all water used during the summer is used inside of the house for drinking, bathing and sanitation needs, according to district general manager Thomas L. Brammell.

This is determined by comparing typical summer water deliveries with those in the winter. During the winter, when irrigation systems have been turned off and hopefully it is raining, the district will serve about 2.5 million gallons of water per day. On a summer day, demands average in excess of 10 million gallons per day, because of the increase in outdoor water use.

Historically, at the end of September, the district is susceptible to hot weather and fires; therefore, the stored water available during the shutdown must be available for essential inside water use and fire protection.

“We need everyone to be responsible citizens and water-users during this critical period,” Brammell said in a statement. “Water conservation needs to be an essential part of life in Southern California.”

For more information about the district’s conservation programs, visit www.rmwd.org, stop by the district office lobby at 105 Earlham St., or contact Patty Bevers at (760) 789-1330. Handouts on topics ranging from water-wise gardening to high-efficiency clothes washers are available.