Arlington Sees Big Spike in Water Usage, Encouraging Residents to Conserve

When summer hits North Texas, it is by no means out of the ordinary for people to use more water - whether it is to help them stay cool or to keep their lawns from frying. 

But the City of Arlington says water usage this summer has spiked so dramatically - 30 percent in one year - they felt the need to say something.

"I want to let folks in Arlington know that we still have plenty of water for our customers," said Craig Cummings, Incoming Director of Water Utilities for the City of Arlington. "But they need to use it wisely."

In June, Arlington residents used an average of 75 million gallons of water per day. That is up significantly from June 2017, where the average was 58 million gallons.

Since 2014, that June average has never been higher than 61 million gallons.

The city says water usage could spike even higher in July, which is why it is pushing residents to conserve water where ever they can.

"It's Texas," said Cummings. "This year, our reservoirs are full. That could change in the next few years - it just depends. We're used to droughts in the state. We have water, our water plants are very good - but we always need to look at using that resource very wisely."

Cummings says the biggest culprits of water waste tend to be sprinkler systems.

If they are not working properly, they can over-water lawns or spray water onto the sidewalks and streets.

The city notes that both they and the Tarrant Regional Water District offer a free program where a professional will come out to a customer's home and do a full check up on their sprinkler system to make sure it is working properly.

They also encourage residents to visit WaterIsAwesome.com, which monitors weather and drought conditions across North Texas and sends out weekly blasts letting residents how long or how often residents should water their lawn based on where they live.