Watering During Drought: Be Conservative, Urges Water One

As the scorching hot weather continues this week, cities in the metro are urging  water consumers to space out their watering and not to soak the ground. 

Not only will this avoid higher bills, say water officials, but also ease pressure on area water supplies. While officials at Water One, which serves most of Johnson County, say there is plenty of water to meet demand, overuse eventually will depress water pressure.

The water company saw record usage on July 18th, says spokesman Mandy Kawby. She says the utility has already seen twice the water consumption of typical summers.

Kawby says there is not a typical bill, since water use varies household to household, but generally, Kawby says, bills are up.

She has some suggestions for those who want to keep their bills on the lower side.

"I know we're really proud of our green lawns here," Kawby says, "but if you wanted to scale it back, water only Tuesday, Thursday, (and on the) weekend, and don't water during the heat of the day." Most of the water evaporates at that time, she says.

Cities of Prairie Village, Overland Park, and Leawood have seen  highest water use, with possibly some of the hottest days of summer yet to come.