THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 30, 1994 TAG: 9406300525
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF HOOTEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940630 LENGTH: CHESAPEAKE
Water restrictions will therefore go into effect just after midnight tonight.
{REST} Unless there is a deluge in the interim, residents throughout the city will have to turn off their sprinklers and stop filling pools or hosing down their cars at exactly 12:01 a.m. Friday morning.
``The only way it's not going to happen is if it rains heavily between now and Friday,'' said Amar Dwarkanath, director of public utilities.
Nearly an inch of rain fell on Chesapeake on Wednesday morning, but it wasn't nearly enough, he said.
The water supply, drawn mainly from the Northwest River and some emergency wells that were put on line on Sunday, was still high in chloride and sodium levels.
``We hope we won't have to be on this conservation pattern for a long time, but until the weather changes and the chlorides go down, I don't see us changing our plan of action,'' Dwarkanath said.
Lack of rain is only half the problem, Dwarkanath said. A pattern of strong southerly winds has pushed brackish water from Currituck Sound upstream into the Northwest River - the city's main water source.
The salty water that results has an unpleasant taste but is not generally considered a health risk. Residents on severely restricted sodium diets, however, have been advised to avoid drinking city water.
Wednesday, the city's water supply from the Chesapeake Water Treatment Plant on the Northwest River had 425 milligrams of chloride per liter and 213 milligrams of sodium per liter - down slightly from Tuesday.
The federal ``taste threshold'' is no more than 250 milligrams of chloride per liter, but there are no federal safety standards regulating the chloride level.
Although some portions of the city receive their water from Portsmouth or Norfolk, the new restrictions will be citywide.
Residents concerned about their tap water can fill containers with water drawn from unaffected Portsmouth or Norfolk supplies at local fire stations. These include the Rokeby Avenue, Portlock and Bowers Hill fire stations, as well as any station in the Western Branch area.
What the city needs, Dwarkanath said, is a lot more rain. Wednesday's storm was welcome, he said, ``but it's too early to see the impact.''
Virginia Beach has been under water restrictions since February 1992. Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk, all of which have their own water supplies, have managed to avoid long-term shortages.
In late 1993, Norfolk briefly went on water restrictions. But as of Tuesday, that city's reservoirs were at 89 percent of capacity.
``We're not anticipating any problems, but we're always urging people not to be fooled just because our levels are strong now,'' said Peg Nelson, a Norfolk public information officer.
James R. Spacek, director of public utilities in Portsmouth, said, ``Right now it looks good. We are where we normally expect to be. Traditionally, July is one of the wettest months.''
Water reserves were at 92 percent of capacity in Portsmouth and 84 percent of capacity in Suffolk as of Monday. Neither city was anticipating water restrictions.
{KEYWORDS} WATER SHORTAGE WATER RESTRICTIONS
by CNB