The majority of Texas water systems, including WCID No. 17, produce more than enough drinking water year-round. Even though the District is experiencing a period of explosive growth, we are constantly constructing new facilities to ensure all present and future customers have an adequate water supply. It is only during excessively hot and dry periods that demand may occasionally outpace supply as when everyone tries to water their lawns every day at the same time. If the lake level drops, the pumps have to work a lot harder to get water up to the plant, and they pump less. Electric companies often experience the same problem in the summer, and power “brownouts” are common. Anytime the temperature reaches 100 degrees (very common in central Texas) for several days, evaporation rates rise sharply, and vegetation loses much more water. Utility systems (and their customers) would incur huge costs to expand facilities to allow unlimited usage for only a short time during the summer.
Adequate supply does not mean unlimited use. The water treatment plant is designed for a maximum peak day production of 1 gallon per minute per living unit equivalent (single family home) or about 35,000 gallons per month for a 5/8 inch meter in a hot summer month. This is 30 percent greater capacity than the state requires.
