Published August 26 2015
Bellevue residents and businesses have done a great job conserving water as part of a regional drought response that began in July -- contributing to the region's collective reduction of its water use by 10 percent over the last two weeks, hitting the goal set by Seattle, Everett, and Tacoma. The city asks residents and businesses to continue conserving and to find additional, simple ways to limit water use and stretch water supplies until the rainy season.
Bellevue's water shortage response went into effect July 27 when it joined its water provider, Cascade Water Alliance, as part of a regional response.
On Aug. 11, Bellevue, which ultimately gets its water from Seattle Public Utilities, asked people to voluntarily cut their water use. The regional response plan has four stages: advisory, voluntary, mandatory and emergency curtailment.
Ways for residents to save water:
- Cut back unnecessary watering -- consider letting your lawn go dormant.
- Water plants deeply, but infrequently, early in the day or late at night. Mulching planting beds also helps with reducing watering.
- Visit the Waterwise Garden at the Bellevue Botanical Garden, where residents can learn how they can save water in their own gardens.
- Wash only full loads of laundry in washing machines or dishes in dishwashers.
- Turn the water off. Avoid letting the faucet run when shaving, brushing teeth and washing.
- Take shorter showers -- even cutting your shower by two to three minutes adds up.
- Wash your car infrequently, and when you do, take it to a commercial wash where the water is recycled.
- Fix leaks.
- Order and install free water-saving items, including low-flow shower heads and leak detection kits, from Cascade Water Alliance.
Ways for businesses to save water:
- Check for and fix leaks, including checking tank toilets for silent leaks.
- Wash only full loads of laundry and dishes.
- Thaw frozen food in the refrigerator.
- Provide new towels only on request.
- Check cooling towers for overflow and excessive blowdown.
- Turn off water-using equipment when not in use.
- Increase employee awareness about using water wisely.
- If purchasing fixtures or equipment, choose water-efficient models.
- Reuse industrial and manufacturing process water.
More water conservation tips can also be found on the Bellevue website.
The city of Bellevue is committed to reducing its own water use. Specific actions include:
- Parks is cutting back on irrigation by 25 percent.
- Newer computer-controlled irrigation systems have leak detection, and adjust water use based on current weather and soil conditions.
- New plantings in parks and along roadways are being delayed until fall rains come.
Bellevue Utilities will limit routine maintenance activities that use water until October or November when fall rains are likely to return. This includes flushing of water mains to remove accumulated sediment and minerals. Utilities continuously monitors the water supply to ensure it meets stringent statewide water quality standards.
Other actions to be taken at city facilities consist of the following:
- Being vigilant in reporting and repairing leaks.
- Conducting irrigation assessments for building landscaping and preventing overwatering.
- Asking employees to pledge to conserve water at work and home.
- Reducing the flush volume of toilets at City Hall from 1.6 gallons per flush to 1.5.
- Reducing water use in water features at City Hall.
- Delaying any major maintenance that requires flushing and filling of equipment.
- Decreasing fleet vehicle washing.
Bellevue Fire is scaling back training drills using water and deferring optional wet drills until the water supply outlook improves.