THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 20, 1994 TAG: 9407200414
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Currituck County pool and spa owners may have to find another source of water.
Cutting off county-supplied water for luxury items like pools was one of several water conservation measures suggested at the Currituck County Board of Commissioners meeting Monday evening.
``It's hard to get somebody to turn the shower off right after they lather up, when they look out the window and there's some guy splashing through a pool with 20,000 gallons of water,'' said Commissioner Jerry Wright.
The county is trying to find a long-term water source for its rapidly growing residential and industrial developments on both mainland and islands.
In recent years the county has asked residents and tourists to voluntarily cut back on water use.
Commissioner Ernie Bowden, who represents an area that includes Currituck's oceanfront communities, suggested property owners with swimming pools and spas be required to fill them with off-site sources.
A report on the possibility of amending a zoning ordinance to make such a measure mandatory may come as soon as the board's Aug. 1 meeting.
Bowden also asked about increasing pool permit fees to discourage new pools and home spas during the water shortage.
Forty-one new swimming pools, spas and wading pools were built and inspected by the Currituck County health department between January 1992 and June 1994. About 63 percent were located on the northern Outer Banks.
Sixteen pools - nine on the Banks and seven on the mainland - have been built this year, a number that surprised a couple of commissioners.
``I really thought we had more that had come on line,'' said B.U. Evans, chairman of the board.
Suggested as alternative suppliers of water were private water contractors, lakes, ponds and local fire departments, which could use the fees to help fund emergency service programs.
``There are plenty of places you can get it without getting it out of the county system,'' Commissioner Gene Gregory said.
Last year the county placed water conservation information packets in rental cottages on the Outer Banks. County attorney Bill Romm suggested this year that the message be spread through television public service announcements.
The county's water treatment plant in Maple, which serves about 2,800 customers from Moyock to Grandy, is already near capacity and has yet to be extended to Lower Currituck residents.
Currituck County is expanding its wellfield to include six new wells which collectively could produce up to 200 additional gallons of water a minute.
A water study released last spring by the Outer Banks Water Supply Task Force suggested several possible long-term water sources, including treating water pumped from the Currituck Sound or the Atlantic Ocean.
One option to drill test wells for an underwater stream near Point Harbor was rejected in May by commissioners. by CNB