Water ban lifted in Bloomington

With recent rainfall and cooler temperatures, Mayor Mark Kruzan lifted the city-wide water ban Tuesday for all Bloomington Utilities water customers, effective Wednesday.
The water ban has been in place since Aug. 9.

Kruzan said the combination of lower water demands and an increase in rainfall helped him make the decision to disable the Emergency Water Restriction Order.
 
“Also, based on historical seasonal water use patterns, we believe water demands will continue to decrease throughout the next 15 days,” Kruzan said.

The water restrictions have been in place for 32 days, though the ban was ordered for 60 days.

Because of the work by the community and IU campus, the city was able to stave off a crisis, Kruzan said.
 
The average daily demand for the Monroe Water Treatment Plant has decreased between 18 and 20 percent since the restrictions began, according to a press release.
The ban helped decrease the stress placed on the equipment of the Monroe Water Treatment Plant.

The month-long water restrictions, though successful, will need to be kept in mind in case of a dry weather relapse, according to the release.

The City of Bloomington remains under a statewide water shortage warning issued by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Homeland Security.

Though the mandatory water restrictions have been disabled, Bloomington businesses and the community are urged to follow voluntary guidelines concerning water use.
 
The city asks that watering of lawns and plants be limited to once a week.

“We’re very confident that unless there are extremely unusual circumstances, meaning something like high 90s in October, we are past the problem,” Kruzan said.

The utility department’s project to expand the treatment capacity of the plant from 24 to 30 million gallons of water a day is currently underway.

This includes the construction of a second major water distribution main for redundancy and a new water storage tank and booster station, according to a press release. The project is expected to be completed in summer 2013.