PEABODY — The city announced in a press release that it is implementing voluntary water restrictions due to low water-reservoir levels.
Mayor Ted Bettencourt said the city has implemented these voluntary restrictions frequently over the years.
“We’ve seen noticeable differences over the years when we’ve done something like this,” Bettencourt said.
The city is asking residents to limit their outdoor water use. Lawn-watering should be limited to three days a week, either in the morning between the hours of 6 and 9 a.m. or in the evening between 6 and 9 p.m., the release stated.
“It’s really just our attempt as a city to be good stewards of the water in our systems,” Bettencourt added. “It’s worked well for us in the past. People are very cooperative, they want to try to help and be a part of something positive.”
City officials are asking odd-numbered houses to water on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and even-numbered houses to water on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
The city is also requesting that car-washing be limited to residents’ scheduled outdoor water-use days and that residents refrain from outdoor water use on Sundays.
Bettencourt said Public Services Director William Paulitz monitors the water levels at the town’s reservoirs.
“When our Department of Public Services director brought this forward from his team, this was obviously something that we wanted to help with,” he said.
Peabody receives nearly two-thirds of its water from the Walsh and Winona water-treatment plants, both of which are located in the city, Bettencourt said.
