The Municipality of Chatham-Kent has invited media to attend a conference to answer questions and provide an update on the water restrictions currently in place in parts of the municipality.
The conference will take place Monday, August 31 at 2:30 p.m. at the Chatham Civic Centre.
In attendance will be Mayor Darrin Canniff, Rob Bernardi, director of engineering and compliance for the Public Utilities Commission, Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, medical officer of health, Michael Duben, chief administrative officer, and other municipal staff.
Ahead of the conference, Canniff provided an update on the water situation through social media, saying the municipality is making positive progress.
“I’m pleased to say we are making positive progress. Our system is continuing to stabilize, and the efforts everyone is making to conserve water are having a real impact,” Canniff wrote.
Canniff thanked residents for cutting back their water use, and also recognized local businesses for their role in easing pressure on the system.
“I also want to recognize our local businesses. Restaurants, car washes, laundromats and other businesses have voluntarily reduced their water use or closed their doors to help protect our water system and their community. That kind of response says a lot about Chatham-Kent,” he wrote.
Canniff noted that the restrictions remain in place for now, and residents are asked to continue conserving water and using it for essential purposes only.
“The restrictions do remain in place for now, so we need everyone to keep conserving and using water for essential purposes only. This is a short-term measure, and we’re moving in the right direction. Thank you, Chatham-Kent. Please keep it up,” he wrote.
In a media release issued on Sunday, Municipal officials said emergency severe water restrictions remain in effect for Chatham and several surrounding communities as the Municipality of Chatham-Kent continues working to stabilize the water system following repairs to the main water transmission line feeding the Chatham Water Treatment Plant.
The restrictions remain in effect for Chatham, Grande Pointe, Pain Court, Dover Centre, Mitchell’s Bay, Dresden, Tupperville, Eberts, Prairie Siding, Thamesville and Kent Bridge.
Residents in these communities are asked to continue limiting water use to essential purposes only, including drinking, brushing teeth and flushing toilets.
The municipality says it appreciates the significant efforts residents, businesses and organizations have already made to reduce water consumption. Those efforts are making a difference, with some improvements toward the system returning to normal levels, but continued conservation remains critical while the system recovers.
Officials say there continues to be no impact to the safety or quality of the drinking water, and water remains safe to drink. The restrictions are necessary to reduce demand on the system and allow water supplies to recover while operations at the Chatham Water Treatment Plant continue to stabilize. The municipality describes it as a short-term effort needed to replenish supplies within the Chatham-Kent water supply.
Residents should continue to avoid showers, laundry, watering lawns and gardens, washing vehicles, filling pools or hot tubs, and all other non-essential water use.
Residents are also reminded not to fill bathtubs, buckets or other containers to stockpile water, as doing so creates additional demand on the system and works against efforts to restore adequate water levels and pressure.
Businesses that use significant amounts of water, including car washes, dog washes and laundromats, are asked to continue to voluntarily suspend operations involving significant water consumption.
Industrial, commercial and institutional water customers are also being asked to continue restricting consumption and, where possible, postpone operations or production requiring significant amounts of water.
Municipal splash pads, pools and arenas in the impacted areas will remain closed while the emergency restrictions are in effect.
The municipality continues to closely monitor water production, reservoir levels and system pressure. Restrictions will remain in place until the system has stabilized sufficiently to safely return to normal water consumption.
