Water demand in the Nashville area has been high lately — so high, in fact, that Metro Water Services set a new record for hourly demand earlier this month. Now, officials are asking people with automated sprinklers to rethink their scheduling.
The request comes after this month’s brutal heat wave, and as Nashville and many nearby counties are again facing moderate drought.
Metro Water says its customers typically use 112 million gallons of water per day (MGD). But on Sept. 9, amid the drought and hot weather, the hourly rate hit a record 152 MGD.
Metro officials stress that there’s no water shortage. Rather, the increased use is straining Metro Water’s pumping capacity, especially during peak demand.
So they’re asking anyone with automatic sprinklers to water between midnight and 4 a.m., and only on alternating days:
- For homes with odd-numbered addresses, that’s Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
- For even-numbered homes, this means watering only on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
If these efforts don’t make a dent in peak demand, officials warn “more stringent restrictions on water use may be required.”
U.S. Drought Monitor In this map from the U.S. Drought Monitor, released Sept. 24, 2026, the tan color denotes moderate drought across much of Middle Tennessee, while the yellow areas are abnormally dry.
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