The washing of downtown Princeton sidewalks during Level 4 drought conditions raised a few eyebrows last week, but infrastructure director Kevin Huey said the water use was justified.
Huey said he wasn’t completely surprised that the staffers “received a couple of concerns” about the issue, as the municipality implemented new water restriction rules two weeks ago. The heightened water restrictions eliminate two days of lawn watering, and prohibit residential water users from using a hose to wash vehicles, pavement or buildings, except in special circumstances.
The watering bylaw allows for the town to water lawns and boulevards, but only every second day.
“We washed them because they were really dirty,” said Huey. “The reality is they hadn’t been washed yet this year and we use a high pressure washer so it takes very little water to do it.”
Huey said the weekend’s scheduled music festival, which brought thousands of people to the town’s core, was a consideration in the timing of the program.
“We want to have a nice clean town. We want to have our best foot forward all the time. For the little bit of water it took it was well worth it.”