Mapleton city's pressurized irrigation system is feeling the pressure of too many residents using the water at once, and the city has now implemented a voluntary watering schedule.

"We have had to go to a voluntary schedule for the past several years," Brady said.

The pressurized irrigation system serves only 600 of Mapleton's residents, a result of the Ensign-Bickford settlement. The settlement required a well to continuously pump water in order to filter contaminated water, and Brady said the city chose to install a pressurized irrigation system at Ensign-Bickford's expense to take advantage of that water. Without even a small irrigation system, the pumped water would simply go into a creek.

Even when the system was built, Brady said the city was aware it was not adequate for all of Mapleton's residents, but the 600 residents served over 10 years was benefit enough.

"We've known that it was not going to be an adequate system, but the feeling was that it was better to have something than nothing," she said.

During the summer, Brady said high usage has depleted the water supply, especially with new large users on the system such as Mapleton Junior High. The city is now looking into immediate and long-term solutions for residents. New users have not been allowed on the system for at least 18 months, and filters in the system are now changed every other day instead of weekly, increasing output by 10 percent.

The city is also looking into long-term fixes such as a new citywide system. The newest solution for this summer is the voluntary usage schedule, which limits even-numbered houses to using the system on Monday and Thursday, odd-numbered houses on Tuesday and Friday, city parks on Wednesday and Sunday and churches and city buildings on Wednesday and Saturday. Mapleton Junior High has also been asked to water during off-peak hours in the middle of the day.

Brady said there are several options on the table, but many would negatively impact the culinary water system the rest of the city uses.

"We are trying to remove some major users," she said. "The problem with that is we would transfer the impact to our culinary system."

City engineer Gary Calder said he has noticed pressure fluctuations in the system as a user, and he is working with the city to try and solve the problems. The system can generally handle the homes that are on it, but not much more. The city has a design for a new reservoir to help contain additional water, but the decision on whether to implement the plan will be up to the City Council.

"We're looking at building a reservoir, and the constraints that we have on that are the costs," he said.

The schedule has so far had a positive impact on the water pressure, but Brady said the response from residents has been understandably mixed. Many are rightly unhappy with the current situation, but Brady said it is important for the city and its residents to understand the situation.

"A lot of people are trying to help out by sticking with the schedule," she said. "A lot of people are frustrated, as you can imagine, and we don't blame them."

City administrator Bob Bradshaw said residents were issued a notice of the new schedule one week ago, but some have continued to use the system at their discretion. There is no penalty for not abiding by the suggested schedule, but Bradshaw said something must be done to help alleviate usage.

"If this is not going to succeed on a voluntary basis, the City Council will have to consider a mandatory program," he said.

Brady said city officials will meet today to consider options available for the system, and pressurized irrigation will be among many topics discussed at a public meeting Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 125 W. 400 North.