HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — Every one of us needs water to survive and that is especially true in this hot humid summer weather.
"We have people in Houston County that have beautiful lawns and they pump a lot of water," Brian Jones said.
Jones is the Director of Operations at the County Public Works Department.
Another Houston County resident, Jim Taylor, has been living in Warner Robins for over 15 years with his family.
Taylor and his wife have seen multiple changes in the water rate system since arriving. When Taylor's father-in-law got the house in the '80s, he said it came with a well in the backyard.
Now, they have designated zones in their front and backyards with sprinklers that operate on a fixed schedule.
"So, that was kinda grandfathered in," Taylor explained. "We used that well for our sprinkler system and the county water for our home."
Jones said, though the county is currently dealing with hotter than average temperatures, the risk of a drought is slim so he's not expecting any water restrictions.
"I don’t foresee Houston County doing water restrictions unless we hit a drought," Jones said. "The last time we had, we were in a sure-enough drought, we were way behind on our rainfall averages. But we’re not that now, so we shouldn’t impose water restrictions."
The director explained every year, the state Environmental Protection Division permits Houston County a certain amount of water it can pump on a daily basis.
This year, Jones said, it's allowed to pump 18.4 million gallons on a daily basis year-round, but 27 million gallons daily during the summer months.
Don't be alarmed; that's balanced out by the winter months, like in January when the county pumps about 12 million gallons, Jones said.
"The only thing that impacts it is how people use it," Jones said.
Houston County's largest water customer is the city of Warner Robins; they also sell to Perry and Centerville, according to public works.