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Heatwave leaves JEA customers high and dry; low water pressure, irrigation issues persist in St. Johns County

In the Shearwater neighborhood, sprinklers are working overtime. (Copyright 2024 by WJXT News4JAX - All rights reserved.)

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A spring heat wave and lack of rain have left many St. Johns County neighbors without much water for their lawns.

This weekend, JEA alerted residents with a reclaimed water supply that they might be experiencing low water pressure because of the record warmth.

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Water pressure issues are concentrated to northern St. Johns County, the Nocatee area and some parts of southern Duval County that are serviced by reclaimed water supply.

The Shearwater neighborhood is among the areas where sprinklers are working overtime.

“I’m hoping we get some rain next week,” homeowner Daneil Hinds said.

James Wu, another homeowner, said his plants are dying slowly.

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JEA explained the current situation in an automated voicemail which said:

“Due to hot summer conditions, you may notice lower than normal water pressure in your irrigation system. We understand this can be frustrating and are actively working to address the issue. Our teams are aware of the low reclaimed water pressures.”

Hinds said they started noticing issues with their water pressure in the early morning hours.

“Then sometimes late into the evening, you get issues where you either not get any pressure, or the pressure is just very low, and the heads are putting out probably a third of what they should put out,” Hinds said.

A situation Hinds called frustrating.

“I mean, with the drought situation that we’re in right now, we can’t keep up,” Hinds said.

For many neighbors, that means giving up on green grass. Others are doing their best to find a workaround.

“I have to hand water with the water from the spigot. And then besides the hand watering, just trying to find alternate times when the pressure is actually up, just to get the irrigation to run,” Hinds said.

JEA recommends that customers adjust their irrigation schedules to between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. to avoid peak demand periods which are typically between the hours of 4 a.m. and 8 a.m.

However, these homeowners said they haven’t had the best luck with the recommended times.

“When I turned it on yesterday, or last night, it was barely anything coming out of it,” Wu said.

JEA said they have a long-term plan to better meet the demand of the rapidly growing southern service territory. But for now, customers should expect these issues to happen regularly whenever there are long stretches without rain.

“People just have to be really creative with how they get their water right now,” Hinds said.


About the Author
Tiffany Salameh headshot

Tiffany comes home to Jacksonville, FL from WBND in South Bend, Indiana. She went to Mandarin High School and UNF. Tiffany is a former WJXT intern, and joined the team in 2023 as Consumer Investigative Reporter and member of the I-TEAM.

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