Leland, NC - Brunswick Regional Water & Sewer H2GO

Greetings, neighbors.

H2GO would like to address customer concerns and clear up a few misconceptions about
H2GO’s water system and the recently imposed temporary water restrictions.

H2GO has 18,000 metered connections to the public water system and another 7,000
separately metered irrigation connections.

During non-irrigation months – November, December, January, February – average water
usage is about 2.5 to 2.7 million gallons per day (MGD). Those non-irrigation months
reflect customers’ essential water usage – water for drinking, water to cook, water to bathe,
and water to flush. So, for basic, essential water needs, the typical metered customer uses
about 150 gallons per day (GPD).

H2GO’s reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment plant and the well sites can produce up to 6
MGD to meet periodic peak demands on the system. All well systems, including H2GO’s
well field, are designed to run for 12 hours, then rest for 12 hours to allow ground water
levels to recover. Water supply wells are not designed to run 24/7 for extended periods.

On June 12th, H2GO issued a Stage 1 Water Conservation Alert to restrict irrigation from 3
days per week to 2 days per week. At that time, the 7-day rolling-average water usage was
over 4.8 MGD. Despite the Stage 1 Water Conservation Alert, water usage continued to
increase and the water usage hit 5.9 MGD on the 18th and the 19th of June. H2GO’s wells
are now running 24/7 to meet the extended peak demands on the system, and they have no
recovery time.

Consider this, our essential water needs require 2.5 to 2.7 MGD for 18,000 customers.
Over the past few days, over 3 million gallons of water per day have been used by 7,000
irrigation customers. Three (3) million gallons per day just for irrigation – that is excessive!

So, why the Stage 4 Water Shortage Alert that prohibits irrigation and non-essential water
usage? H2GO’s water supply wells cannot continue to run 24/7 for extended periods.
Integrity of the well system is critical to sustain our water supplies for essential needs.
Water to drink, water to cook, water to bathe, water to flush, and adequate water for fire
protection take priority over landscape irrigation.

What is H2GO doing to prevent future water restrictions? H2GO is engineering 3 additional
wells and another RO treatment train to increase the system capacity to 7.2 MGD in 2025.
The RO water treatment plant can be expanded to 9.6 MGD, and could be “mirrored” on an
adjacent parcel for future plant expansions. H2GO has also identified 5 additional well
sites and will move to acquire those sites in 2025-2026. H2GO has recently completed an
engineering study and will begin design of an Aquifer Storage Recovery (ASR) well for
finished water storage to help meet future peak demands on the system. Two additional
ASR wells are planned for future storage of finished water. H2GO recently completed a
preliminary study to use reclaimed water from the wastewater treatment plant for irrigation
in new developments. We are evaluating the cost-benefits to help establish “purple pipe”
developments.

What can irrigation customers do to help prevent future water restrictions? Be water-wise.
Southern turf-grasses only require 1” of water per week. When the water restrictions are
lifted, please follow the alternating irrigation schedule: Odd numbered address irrigate
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday; even numbered addresses irrigate Wednesday, Friday,
Sunday. Supplement weekly rainfall with irrigation and limit irrigation to early morning
hours. Irrigate no more than 1/3” of water 3 times per week, or ½” of water 2 times per
week – less if weekly rainfall helps to reduce supplemental irrigation. A typical residential
lot should target about 5,000 gallons per month for supplemental irrigation.

Are the new apartments, residential developments, and businesses to blame for the water
restrictions? No. H2GO has anticipated a 10% growth in our customer base over the next
several years. There are about 1200 to 1500 new metered connections added to the water
system each year. Annually, that adds about 250,000 GPD to the average daily water usage
for essential needs. At that growth rate, the average water usage for essential needs will be
about 4 MGD in 5 years, and about 6 MGD in 12 to 15 years.

What’s next? H2GO will evaluate daily water demands, system capacities, water supply
well recovery rates, and precipitation to determine sustainable customer usage and
possible easing of irrigation restrictions.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this temporary water
shortage response.

Bob Walker, Executive Director
Brunswick Regional Water & Sewer H2GO