via NBC29
The water treatment plant that provides clean water to people in Crozet could exceed its capacity within the next five years. That’s why the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA) is beginning a master plan to make sure water keeps flowing from.
Dr. John Schoeb depends on fresh, clean water for both his businesses – his dental practice and his brewery, Pro Re Nata.
“Without it, neither one of them exists,” Schoeb explained. “It’s a limited resource. We’re paying for it, we’re trying to be good to the environment.”
Schoeb says simple conservation steps cut his brewery’s water use by 8,000 gallons per month. It’s an effort he encourages his neighbors in Crozet to try.
“Crozet is a growing, vibrant area. People want to move out here, so if we’re going to keep the infrastructure we have we’re all going to have to work together to conserve as much as we can,” said Schoeb.
Crozet’s infrastructure is the focus of a new water master plan. The RWSA is hiring a consultant to study the growing community’s water needs.
“It is an area where we’re seeing high demand that is starting to get close to our capacity,” said Bill Mawyer, RWSA executive director.
Crozet’s 52 year-old water treatment plant can handle one million gallons per day. Right now, the average daily demand is about half a million gallons.
via Crozet Today (pdf)
The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA) is launching a master plan to make sure water keeps flowing for Crozet. The Crozet water treatment plant could exceed its capacity within the next five years. Crozet’s infrastructure is the focus of a new water master plan. The RWSA is hiring a consultant to study the growing community’s water needs.
“It is an area where we’re seeing high demand that is starting to get close to our capacity,” said Bill Mawyer, RWSA executive director. Crozet’s 52 year-old water treatment plant can handle one million gallons per day. Right now, the average daily demand is about half a million gallons.
The RWSA estimates it could exceed capacity by the summer of 2022. “We need to start planning now how we will expand the facilities to make sure we can meet the demand in the next five, to 10, to 50 years,” said Mawyer.
Read the whole thing.
In response to a facebook comment:
“HOA’s need to encourage residents to use drought-tolerant landscaping. Using potable water to keep lawns green is a huge waste of that resource. I’d be interested to see what the different HOA’s bylaws require in terms of yard maintenance, and if those bylaws are inclusive/encouraging best practices for water conservation. For instance, do they require lawns, or prohibit rain barrels? Do they encourage watering only after dusk or in the early morning?”
A friend responds:
“Typical association documents will be silent on it and leave that discretion to the individual boards. They are ambiguous enough that the boards could either choose to require spotless lawns (weed-free) or allow for individuals to make their own decisions on how they want to manage their lawns. I don’t think any documents I’ve seen would out-right prohibit rain barrels, but it could be added by an individual board as a rule, if they so wanted. Rules can easily be repealed/replaced by new boards.”