San Diegans Do Their Share, Cut Water Use by 32 Million Gallons

San Diegans appear to be scaling back on the amount of water they’re using in response to official cries for conservation made earlier this week following the Point Loma sewage line break.

City water officials on Friday reported a 32-million gallon reduction in the volume of water used over a three-day period, from 152 million gallons Tuesday to 120 million gallons Thursday, San Diego Water Utilities Department officials said.

City and county officials began urging San Diegans earlier this week to conserve in an effort to cut back on the volume of waste water making its way to the sewage treatment plant in Point Loma.

“We’re really pleased with the decrease and we hope it continues. Every little bit helps,” Water Utilities Department spokesman Kurt Kidman said.

His sentiments were echoed by Paul Downey, a spokesman for San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor.

“We’re thrilled. People have heeded the mayor’s call for extreme conservation measures,” Downey said. “The mayor and the City Council owe a big thank you to the citizens. The people have responded once again.”

City officials are urging San Diegans to continue their conservation efforts throughout next week.

“For right now, the mayor has asked that citizens cut back on their indoor water use . . . until the pipeline can be stabilized,” Kim Shea, spokeswoman for the city’s Water Utilities Department, said. “As to what happens after that, we’ll just have to take it from there.”

San Diegans can reduce the amount of water they use at home by taking three-minute showers, checking their faucets for leaks and flushing toilets only when necessary, Kidman said.

In addition, taking simple steps such as turning off water while brushing teeth or throwing garbage away in a trash can instead of a garbage disposal can save water.

On a typical day, the city uses more than 170 million gallons of water, but because of conservation efforts brought on by the drought, that volume has decreased between 15% to 30% since last summer.

In addition to the drought, factors such as daily weather conditions also influence the amount of water San Diegans use on a given day.

Although the city has been hit with heavy rain recently, officials said the decrease in water use began before the storm.

For example, the volume between Tuesday and Wednesday dropped by 12 million gallons. The storm arrived Thursday.

The sewage treatment plant in Point Loma treats waste water from the city of San Diego and 15 other communities. Figures for water usage volumes from throughout San Diego County were not available.