Pennsylvania American Water issues mandatory conservation order for Coatesville area

More than 23,000 people in Chester County have been ordered to cut back on their water usage. Pennsylvania American Water alerting customers this morning of the mandatory water conservation, saying it's all due to recent weather. Dylan Scott has more from Coatesville. American Water customers in the Coatesville region received a mandatory conservation notice Sunday morning. Not relating to the overall supply of their water, but the treatment of it, which has caused major concern. It was a surprising start to their Sunday for many Coatesville residents. They didn't tell us nothing about it. There was no heads up about it. It was just like, bam, there you go, this is what you gotta do. An early morning notice to limit water use to essential purposes with a target reduction rate of 10 to 15 percent. It's hard to use less water. You have to flush your toilet, right? Isn't that usage of water? You have to cook, you have to clean, you have to wash clothes. There's things you have to use and then you're telling us to use it at the very last minute. That's hard to do. The order was issued for approximately 23,000 customers across this portion of Pennsylvania. Many saying they're concerned by the continued lack of transparency from a pivotal utility company in their community. We've had enough. We don't know about the plant, what's going on with the water treatment plant. They were supposed to have expanded it, make it larger or done more things to it. But we haven't seen anything rectified or taken care of. In a response to Fox 29's inquiry on the order, Pennsylvania's American Water provided only this statement. Recent weather related changes in local water sources have increased the amount of treatment required at the plant, placing additional demand on filtration systems and temporarily reducing treatment capacity. Adding the company will provide updates as needed and will notify customers when the conservation order is lifted. However, many in these hardworking Pennsylvania towns say the company continues to demand more than it delivers. Something's wrong with the water. That's all I can say. I mean, something is just not right, but they're not telling us. It's a small city, you know, so would you like it if somebody just gave you a vague explanation of why we have to, you know, limit our water usage? Again, we've reached out to American Water for clarification on these issues and we'll let you know when we hear back. Reporting in Coatesville, Dylan Scott, Fox 29 News.