Sharon Switches Outdoor Watering Days

Sharon's first new mandatory outdoor watering restrictions in five years have met "some opposition from the Orthodox community," Public Works Superintendent Eric Hooper told selectmen Tuesday night.

The new odd-even restrictions allow unattended watering from 6 to 8 p.m. by odd-numbered addresses on Monday and Thursday and by even-numbered addresses on Tuesday and Friday, and some Orthodox Jews note that "they can't use their sprinkler system on Friday," Hooper said.

Residents with such concerns should "come to the water department," Hooper said.

Sharon's summer water restriction odd-even schedule the past five years was Monday and Wednesday and Tuesday and Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m., he noted.

The change will give Sharon's water storage tanks "a mid-week 'rest day,'" Hooper told the board in an April 13 memo.

Selectmen voted 2-0 Tuesday night, with William Heitin not present, to implement the restriction from May 15 to Oct. 1.

Watering by hand-held devices is permitted anytime.

Selectman Richard Powell suggested directly notifying the synagogues of the schedule change. Hooper agreed.