The mayor of Orlando is asking residents to stop watering their lawns and washing their cars for a least a week.
Mayor Buddy Dyer said Friday that water usage needed to be cut back because of the recent surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations.
The Orlando Utility Commission treats the city’s water with liquid oxygen and supplies that ordinarily go toward water treatment have been diverted to hospitals for patients suffering from the virus.
The city-owned utility typically goes through 10 trucks of liquid oxygen a week but its supplier recently said that could be cut back to five to seven trucks a week to accommodate hospitals.
The utility says it is within about a week of running out of liquid oxygen.
Orlando leaders are calling on residents to get vaccinated and conserve water, as liquid oxygen is used as a water purifier.
The Orlando Utilities Commission, which serves Orange and Osceola counties, says it uses liquid oxygen as a disinfectant and also to remove hydrogen sulfide, which is not harmful but causes a rotten egg smell.
OUC says reclaimed water is not affected.
Dyer says the city will turn off its water features at its parks. He acknowledges the dramatic nature of the request but says the action is needed.
WMFE reporter Amy Green contributed to this report.
