The Municipality of Chatham-Kent's emergency water restriction has been lifted. This page is updated as new information comes in — bookmark it rather than digging through old newsletter issues for the latest status.
Last updated: August 31, 2026 — RESTRICTION LIFTED
📍 Latest Updates
Aug. 31 (RESTRICTION LIFTED): The Municipality of Chatham-Kent has lifted the emergency water restriction, effective immediately, for Chatham, Grande Pointe, Pain Court, Dover Centre, Mitchell's Bay, Dresden, Tupperville, Eberts, Prairie Siding, Thamesville, and Kent Bridge. Showering, laundry, and bathing are back to normal. Regular odd/even lawn watering restrictions are now in effect instead — see below. Splash pads and arenas in the affected areas reopen September 1.
Aug. 31 (earlier): Before the lift, the Chatham-Kent PUC had confirmed the restriction remained in effect, and residents were encouraged to sign up for CKAlert for future emergency notifications.
Aug. 30 (update): The Chatham-Kent PUC confirms the emergency water restriction remains in effect. Residents in the affected area should continue holding off on non-essential use — long showers, laundry, lawn watering, and car washes.
Aug. 30: The restriction remains in effect. Residents are asked to continue limiting water use to essential purposes only.
Aug. 29 (evening): The Chatham Maroons cancelled their Sunday pre-season home opener at Thames Campus Arena as a direct result of the restriction.
Aug. 29 (afternoon): Local businesses began adapting operations to help manage the restriction's impact.
Aug. 29 (morning): The Municipality immediately imposed an emergency water restriction, expanding limits to include showering, bathing, and laundry across Chatham and surrounding communities.
Aug. 24–28: An initial voluntary conservation request was issued while crews repaired a transmission line on Charing Cross Road feeding the Chatham Water Treatment Plant.
What's restricted
[This section describes the emergency restriction that was in effect Aug. 29–31 — it has been lifted. See the update above for what's in effect now.]
The regular restriction now in effect limits non-essential outdoor water use only:
Odd-numbered addresses: lawn watering, irrigation, and other non-essential outdoor use on odd-numbered days
Even-numbered addresses: same, on even-numbered days
Newly sodded lawns are exempt
Showering, laundry, bathing, car washes, restaurants, and laundromats are no longer restricted.
Drinking water remains safe. This is about volume and demand on the system, not water quality.
Why this happened
The restriction traces back to repairs on a major water transmission line that feeds the Chatham Water Treatment Plant. What started as a precautionary conservation request while that repair was underway escalated to a mandatory emergency restriction on August 29, reflecting ongoing supply challenges beyond what the initial repair timeline anticipated.
Impact so far
Local businesses have adjusted operations to comply, and at least one local sports fixture — the Chatham Maroons' Sunday pre-season opener — has already been cancelled because of it.