Community Health & Wellness
Water utility asks some customers to conserve as region enters hottest days of 2025
A local water provider is asking customers in some neighborhoods to conserve water as Western Washington experiences its hottest stretch of 2025 so far.
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Meanwhile, a favorite local spot to play in the water — the fountain at Skansie Brothers Park — is closed due to equipment failure.
The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for the Gig Harbor area and much of the rest of Western Washington. The advisory is in effect from noon Tuesday, July 15, through 10 p.m. Wednesday, July 16.
The weather service forecasts high temperatures in the low 90s on Tuesday and the mid-90s on Wednesday.
Utility asks customers to conserve water
Water service provider Washington Water Service is asking customers in the Kopachuck, Artondale and Cedar Crest neighborhoods to conserve water. In Artondale and Cedar Crest, this applies mainly to outdoor watering schedules.
Washington Water Service is asking customers in the Artondale Water System, shaded in yellow, to conserve water.
In Artondale and Cedar Crest, Washington Water asks customers to avoid outdoor watering between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. The utility also requests that customers stagger their irrigation schedules: People whose addresses end in odd numbers should water on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays; people whose addresses end in even numbers should water Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
Washington Water Service is asking customers in the Cedar Crest Water System, shaded in yellow, to conserve water.
Washington Water issued the same request to customers in the Shaws Cove area on July 3.
WWS wants customers to avoid outdoor watering on Fridays to give its system time to recover.
Pump failure in Kopachuk
In Kopachuck, a pump on one of three wells serving the area failed. Contractors ordered a new pump, but it won’t be available for three weeks.
Washington Water asks customers to “turn off irrigation systems and use only as much water as absolutely needed for health and safety purposes.” The request extends through Aug. 8.
“Conserving will allow the water system and water levels in the storage tank to be maintained and help prevent any potential water service interruptions,” according to information on the utility’s website.
Gig Harbor and the rest of the Kitsap Peninsula is experiencing moderate drought conditions, according to drought.gov. The website, a service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, designates other parts of Pierce County to be in “severe drought.”
Washington Water Service is asking customers in the Kopachuck Water System to conserve water at least through Aug. 8.
Splash Pad goes dry
The city of Gig Harbor announced on Friday, July 11, that the splash pad at Skansie Brothers Park is out of commission until further notice.
There is some hope that the popular cooling-off spot could be repaired this summer, but 2026 is more likely, the city wrote in its Gig-A-Byte newsletter.
The fountain/splash pad at Skansie Brothers Park on Monday, July 14. Photo by Vince Dice
The fountain isn’t functioning because “components that control the water feature have failed due to their location in underground vaults and need replacement.”
The state Department of Health classifies the fountain in the same way as a public pool, so the city must treat the water. Equipment to do that is located in a vault under the fountain.
That equipment is damaged and not functioning properly. The city has already budgeted to move it upstairs, out of the underground vault. But officials aren’t certain the work can be completed this year.
Playing in the fountain at Skansie Brothers Park during opening day of the 2024 Waterfront Farmers Market on Thursday, June 6, 2024. Photo by Vince Dice