It's been nearly a year since Zelienople residents were ordered to conserve water.

The reason: flooding.

Now, they're being asked to conserve water again.

The reason: drought.

On Monday, council voted to ask residents to use less water, starting the following day.

Supplies are not low enough to threaten public safety, but the borough cannot ignore the ongoing dry spell, said Councilman Drew Mathew, who is chief of the borough's volunteer fire department. "We're getting to the point now that we've got to start looking at it."

Voluntary restrictions have been placed on these activities:

Watering lawns

Watering outdoor gardens, landscaped areas, trees, shrubs or other plants, except between 5 p.m. and 9 a.m., using a bucket and a minimum amount of water

Washing vehicles, except when required for safety or operational purposes

Washing streets, driveways or sidewalks

Operating fountains, artificial waterfalls, reflecting pools or other ornamental water use

Filling or topping off swimming pools

Serving water in restaurants, unless requested by the customer

Flushing sewers, except as deemed necessary by the borough

Using fire hydrants, except for fighting fires or for protection purposes

Using fire hydrants to test fire department apparatus or for fire department drills, except as deemed necessary by the borough.

Such restrictions usually can be expected to reduce consumption by 10 percent, said borough engineer Tom Thompson. The borough operates its own water system, and its customers usually use about 500,000 gallons per day, he said.

To help meet demand, the borough also plans to ask for state permission to buy water from Marion, Beaver County.

That community supplied water to the borough after Connoquenessing Creek overflowed its banks Sept. 17, flooding Zelienople's water treatment plant. The water was purchased with an emergency permit issued by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Council members on Monday agreed to request state permission to buy 200,000 gallons to 300,000 gallons per day from Marion to replenish supplies in the borough's three reservoirs.

Marion, which draws water from the Beaver River, has ample supplies to meet its own needs and to supplement Zelienople's supplies, Thompson said.

The last time Zelienople enacted voluntary restrictions was 2001, he said. Last year's restrictions because of the flooding were mandatory.