Vicksburg officials ask that residents continue to minimize water use as work on city’s two water softening units continues.

Last Tuesday, Mayor Robert Walker called for city residents to conserve water while one of the 25-foot-deep tanks is sandblasted and painted. Walker said this morning that the project should be finished in about two more weeks.

“We just ask that people be patient for a couple of more weeks,” Walker said.

Information provided last week by the city was that the work would be finished sooner, but Lamar Heffner, manager of the city water treatment plant, said work could continue for three to four more weeks.

“The plant is doing better now,” Heffner said, meaning efforts to conserve are paying off. There’s no shortage of water available from the city’s wells. The problem is that repairs, expected to be undertaken during a low-demand period, were delayed and are under way now.

While the work is being completed, city officials are asking that people avoid washing cars, watering lawns or filling swimming pools.

“We just don’t have any reserves,” Heffner said.

“People just shouldn’t be taking 30-minute showers,” Walker said.

He said city officials will announce when the voluntary watering ban is lifted.