Florida mayor urges water limits because of COVID-19 surge

By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The mayor of Orlando is asking residents to stop watering their lawns and washing their cars for at least a week. Mayor Buddy Dyer said Friday that water usage needed to be cut back because of the recent surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations. The Orlando Utility Commission treats the city’s water with liquid oxygen and supplies that ordinarily go toward water treatment have been diverted to hospitals for patients suffering from the virus. The city-owned utility typically goes through 10 trucks of liquid oxygen a week but its supplier recently said that could be cut back to five to seven trucks a week to accommodate hospitals.