FAITH — Residents of the town of Faith recently received a notice advising them about a temporary water shortage and asking them to conserve water during the town’s testing for its new well.

The drawdown testing for the town’s new well, well No. 7, is required by the state as part of the process of connecting the new well and will require pumping the new well and two connected to it continuously. As a result, the notice stated that the testing will reduce the amount of water Faith is able to produce by over two-thirds.

The testing could continue through either Wednesday or Thursday, so the town is asking its residents to conserve as much water as possible through Friday, Sept. 27.

According to the notice sent by the town, if there is an unexpected extreme increase in demand for water, such as from the fire department during a fire, the town risks running out of water entirely.

The town is specifically asking its residents to delay “water-intensive” activities until after the shortage is over. The activities the town asked to be suspended included:

• Watering lawns, landscaping and gardens
• Washing vehicles
• Washing outside surfaces
• Filling, refilling or topping off pools or other backyard-scale water features

Anyone with questions about the process can contact town staff by calling 704-279-7500 for more information or visit Faith Town Hall, located at 100 N. Main St.

The town received the preliminary plans for the well testing during its July meeting, which showed most of the water traveling down Jaycee Street. The water from wells five and seven would travel along the street into the ditch while the water from well six would be diverted into a nearby retention pond. Hoses, riprap and piping would be installed along all of the planned pathways to reduce erosion and minimize friction loss, where the water loses pressure due to friction, according to the plan.

The board of aldermen voiced concerns at the time about holding the testing during potential drought conditions, and so agreed to move the testing to early fall when the weather conditions would be more favorable.