The City of Grand Forks is implementing Stage 3 water restrictions starting Monday.
For those connected to the city’s water system it’s back to once a week watering with sprinklers, but you can hand water your garden with a nozzle at any time.
Even civic addresses can use sprinklers on Saturdays, and odd addresses on Sundays.
Senior city planner Graham Watt says they’re asking residents to try to reduce the water demand by 50 per cent.
You can’t fill a swimming pool, hot tub, garden pond or decorative fountain at any time, or wash a vehicle or boat with water.
Manual sprinklers can be used from 7 to 9 a.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.
Automatic timed underground sprinklers can be used either from midnight to 4 a.m. or from 7 to 9 a.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. but not both.
During August, the city distribution system (all residents and businesses) used 321,360 cubic meters of water – equal in volume to 129 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
It’s estimated that only about 100,000 cubic meters or one-third of peak summer demand is used indoors, with the remainder used mainly for irrigation.