White City water use 3x national average during Regina water woes

While Regina was in the grip of water conservation, one weekend in spring, White City, Sask. residents used three times the national average of daily water consumption.

Town manager Shauna Bzel said once those numbers came in, the town asked residents to do some conserving.

"Generally residents of White City are good, but humans need to be reminded that just because you have a tap doesn't mean you have to use it all time," told CBC Saskatchewan's Blue Sky.

The town draws water from the Zehner aquifer. It's the aquifer that the City of Regina used to draw upon before it started using Buffalo Pound.

Bzel said the town is expanding its water treatment plant because of all the demand from new construction in White City. Right now, the existing pumps aren't powerful enough.

"The pumps were sized for a community that wasn't as big as we are today," said White City Mayor Bruce Evans.

He says the pumps can't deliver good water pressure at peak times, like when everyone is watering their lawns and taking showers. A temporary fix is in place until new pumps arrive to be installed in autumn.

Evans says residents have been watering a lot because of the dry spring. As well, with all the new construction, many people are seeding or sodding their lawns. However, Evans says residents have started to heed the call for water conservation.

"Once we started advertising, the consumption has gone down a bit."

White City is encouraging people to water every second day, and at times of the day besides morning and suppertime.