(WJAR) — The Town of Westerly announced an outdoor water usage ban Friday morning, heading into one of the busiest and hottest weekends of the year so far.
“Any type of outside residential water use is completely banned,” said Westerly Town Manager Shawn Lacey.
The ban includes outdoor hose and sprinkler use, meaning residents won’t be able to water their lawns, fill pools or wash their cars or decks until further notice.
NBC 10’s Ryan Medeiros reports on the emergency water ban. (WJAR)
It comes a day after a watermain break near Misquamicut State Beach caused water to be shut off to the beach’s drinking fountains, showers and sinks Thursday.
The leak was repaired early Friday morning, but residents continued to report low water pressure, leading town officials to believe the system is overwhelmed with demand.
The Town of Westerly issued an emergency water ban on July 3, 2026. (WJAR)
Lacey says they’re still working to confirm that there aren’t any other leaks.
“We’re having an issue with water pressure in our system, which is the result of a couple of things,” he said.
The main break compounded with extreme heat and an influx of holiday weekend visitors.
Lacey said the town of 25,000 residents hosts about 75,000 people during the 4th of July weekend.
“There’s a high demand in the beach area because all the houses and cottages and homes are all rented,” he said.
The short supply was concerning for residents and visitors.
“We really haven’t gotten into the months of the end of July into August when we really have water problems and heat problems,” said Ivan Kennerson. “It’s kind of concerning.”
“I just hope it gets straightened out. Hopefully we have some rain pretty soon,” said Doreen Sannicandro.
According to Lacey, it’s an infrastructure problem.
Westerly Town Hall (WJAR)
“We’re not running out of water by any means. There’s plenty of that,” he said. “It’s just the infrastructure that we currently have can supply, I believe, between five and six million gallons of water a day.”
Surrounding municipalities have provided tanker trucks with extra water storage to the Westerly Fire Department.
“Once we get to a point that we’ve replenished the system and we’re satisfied we do not have a major leak, then we’ll go to the odd-even day cycle,” said Lacey.
Lacey said the odd-even water usage cycle is fairly common during dry summers like this one and typically remains in effect for 60 to 90 days.
One of the places affected is Westerly Hospital, as the campus uses town water for its cooling system.
Lacey says this is a priority.
The hospital told NBC that it hasn’t become a problem yet.
In a statement, Westerly Hospital said:
At this time, there is no impact to hospital operations, patient care or patient safety. We are closely monitoring the situation, taking appropriate steps to ensure continuity of services and will keep our staff, patients and visitors informed of any changes. The safety of our patients, visitors and staff remains our top priority.