Wheatley and Tilbury residents can wash their vehicles and fill up their backyard pools guilt-free again.
The Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has lifted the outdoor water restriction for all customers who are on municipal water in those areas.
However, there are still some lawn watering restrictions in effect.
The PUC put the initial outdoor water restriction in place on April 25, noting that there was a critically low amount of water in the reservoirs that service Wheatley and Tilbury.
At that time, the PUC asked all customers -- both residential and commercial -- to eliminate all outdoor water usage, which included lawn watering, washing cars and exterior buildings, filling pools or hot tubs, and any type of outdoor construction.
The water shortage is still part of the fallout from a fire that knocked the Wheatley Water Treatment Plant out of service in September 2023.
In an update issued Wednesday morning, PUC Director of Operations Karen Burgess noted that a "temporary water treatment system is up and running in Wheatley, which has alleviated some of the pressure on the system." That prompted the PUC to lift the restrictions that were previously issued on water usage.
A lawn watering restriction is still in place and applies to all irrigation uses and all other non-essential uses of the potable water supply.
Customers with odd-numbered addresses will be allowed to water their lawns on odd-numbered days and customers with even-numbered addresses will be allowed to water their lawns on even-numbered days.
The PUC also noted that there will be a two-month grace period on the lawn watering restriction for newly sodded lawns.
Officials hope to have Wheatley's water treatment plant back in full operation by August.