An Early Heads Up on Water Conservation

Following the Declaration of Emergency issued on April 3 triggered by the Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) water main leak, the City and SPU have been addressing a significant issue: a major SPU water supply line is out of service. Normally, this line supplies most of the water to Mercer Island’s distribution system – a smaller backup line is currently providing water in its place.

This backup line will not keep up with summer water demand and it is likely water conservation efforts will need to be enacted to manage daily demands. These may include reducing garden and lawn irrigation, running the dishwasher and washing machine only with a full load, using commercial car washes that recycle water, and reducing personal water use wherever possible. Although no conservation measures are currently in place, we are providing early notice that these actions are likely to be implemented soon.

We know these types of restrictions can be inconvenient. While evaluation and planning work is still underway to determine what restrictions may be needed, we aim to provide you with advance notice that water conservation will likely be essential this summer. This will ensure the Island’s water demand does not exceed the supply provided by the backup line and that City reservoirs will continue to meet resident needs while sustaining water quality, safety, and firefighting requirements.

In the meantime, the City and Seattle Public Utilities continue to work to address the supply line that is out of service, but the work will be prolonged due to the challenges associated with the site and topography.

Further updates will be shared as soon as they are available and we encourage you to stay up to date on this work through Let’s Talk. If you have questions or need to report a concern, contact our Customer Service Team by email or phone (206-275-7600) during operating hours.