Statement as issued Tuesday:

(FT. WAYNE, Ind.) – Aqua Indiana reports no problems with water pressure as usage spiked to 5 million gallons a day following a brief decline during last weekend’s thunderstorms. The public’s cooperation with calls to stop lawn irrigation is helping the utility meet this dramatically high demand.

Aqua Indiana supplied customers with more than 5 million gallons yesterday, and expects demand to remain near this level as high temperatures are forecast to hover near 100 degrees until the weekend. The all-time peak demand is 6.2 million gallons.

Through a water-sharing agreement with the City of Fort Wayne, approximately 1400 of Aqua’s 12,000 customers in Aboite Township are receiving City water. These users are drawing an average in excess of 300,000 gallons per day.

Aqua Indiana today responded to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission’s request for a public meeting July 13th to explore the cause of low water pressure suffered by some Aqua customers in late June. Aqua Indiana president Tom Bruns replied by letter telling the commission lawn watering played a significant role:

“The water pressure problems referenced in your letter were localized to an area of higher elevation and were caused by lawn irrigation demand nearly draining our elevated water towers during the morning hours. With conservation efforts by many of our customers and the connection to the Fort Wayne water system for a portion of our service area, the low pressure problems have been resolved.

Recognizing that the summer of 2012 has only begun, I can confirm that Aqua Indiana has no intention of disconnecting from the Fort Wayne system until we are confident that water needs of our customers can be fully met by our own distribution system.”

Aqua continues to urge customers to stop watering their lawns and to report any suspected leak, unusual pools of water or areas that appear to be unusually green and moist. Customers can contact Aqua customer service at 877.987.2782.