TROY, Mo. — The heat is on, as the St. Louis area grapples with another dry day.
The City of Troy in Lincoln County is taking proactive measures by asking its residents to conserve as much water as possible.
In a Facebook post Tuesday morning, the city asked residents to limit outside water usage, including sprinkling/watering the lawn, washing cars and filling up pools.
Troy Mayor Ron Sconce says the idea is to do less.
"The weather caused this. Grass is starting to turn brown because of the heat and not having adequate moisture. People start to panic and start using more water. It's not that we are running out, but that puts an added strain on our pumps and draws on limited resource that we have," Sconce said.
So much so, numbers jumped on Monday.
"What's normally around a million gallons, jumped to 1.8 million," he shared. "We have seven functioning wells and capacity to pump two million gallons a day. It puts a strain on pumps if it's kicking on more and it’s a bigger draw in electricity and it can wear out sooner."
Owner Carla Emert showers each flower with love and care.
On any given week, Troy Flower and Gift Shop houses about 1,500 stems.
She is constantly snipping off the ends and makes sure flowers can submerge in enough water. But she's going to have to cut off some more.
"I've lived in Troy most of my life. So, many times in the past the city has asked to conserve water," she said.
Emert says the request won't cause them to flounder and she plans to conserve some more.
"If we can recycle some of this water to clean up, mop the floors, and wipe down sidewalks and things like that then I think we are doing our part," Emert added.
Right next door is the Lincoln County Fire Protection District, which uses a ton of water.
"A typical house fire in this area well involved can use thousands of gallons of water in minutes," said Chief Michael Marlo.
For now, Marlo reassures residents, they are okay.
"Your fire protection is at its normal level," he shared.
But added, they won't overdo it either.
"We won't setting up ladder trucks showering folks because that is not conducive to keep them cool and it doesn't preserve water when you need to. We want people to think safe and being proactive," Marlo said.
Sconce said, if it gets serious, they may need to be more insistent on asking residents to help.
"Help us help you," Sconce said.