Beginning April 28, the city of Apopka Public Services Department will order community-wide mandatory restrictions on water usage to ensure there are enough potable and reclaim water supplies.
“With an increasingly faster depletion of the water supply being observed at the City of Apopka Potable and Reclaim Water Plants, the City is entering the mandatory water conservation restrictions listed below,” the public notice states on the city’s website.
Under the restrictions, irrigation activities are allowed before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m. and are limited to alternate days, according to the notice, which cites information from St. Johns River Water Management District. Any irrigation activities are limited to 15 minutes per zone.
Addresses ending in odd numbers are allowed to water on Wednesday and Saturday; addresses ending in even numbers, Thursday and Sunday. Non-residential irrigation is allowed to water on Tuesday and Friday.
The city is requesting both residential and commercial customers to not put in new sod until the water restrictions are lifted.
Consequences of violating the restrictions are written warning for the first violation; $50 fine for second violation; $100 fine for third violation; and $500 fine for subsequent violations. Each day that any violation exists is considered a separate offense.
The city of Apopka public notice states that the current drought level is D1 (moderate) to D2 (severe). That means that Orange County has a 53.69% moderate drought, while 38.28% of the county has severe drought, according to Drought.gov.
The city’s Public Services Department did not respond to a call from the Apopka Chief Friday afternoon.
Contact the Department of Public Services at 407-703-1731 or visit Orange County Conditions on the Drought website, Drought.gov/states/florida/county/Orange, for further details.
The Apopka Chief is an award-winning weekly newspaper serving the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923.
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