The

10 a.m. to 10 p.m. outdoor watering ban which

started Monday will affect Fayette County's

residents more than businesses like car washes,

nurseries and landscapers that depend on water to

stay in business.

Those

businesses, which aren't included in the ban,

typically use water efficiently anyway, said a

spokesman for the state Environmental Protection

Division, which imposed the ban Monday.

The

ban, which covers Fayette and 14 other metro

Atlanta counties, was enacted to help combat a

third straight year of drought conditions.

The

main message of the ban is aimed at residential

water customers in the Atlanta area, said EPD

spokesman Vince Dollard: "Use water more

efficiently."

"We're

in the third year of a drought and the effects

are cumulative," he said. "We're trying

to face a crisis situation."

The

ban forbids individuals washing their cars at

home, but commercial car washes will be allowed

to operate all day, Dollar said.

The

ban prohibits the watering of lawns from 10 a.m.

to 10 p.m., even if sod has been placed and could

die without water in that time frame, Dollard

said.

"They

[residents] still have 12 hours a day in which

they can water their lawns," Dollard said.

Watering

the lawn in the early morning helps the soil

accept the water better and keeps water from

evaporating, he added.

In

Fayette County, the previous odd-even outdoor

watering ban has been lifted since the EPD

enacted the 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. outdoor watering

ban. The EPD's ban will help the agency get a

handle on how much water each county is using,

since some counties like Fayette previously had

water restrictions in place while others had

none.

But

if more rain doesn't come soon, the EPD's

watering restrictions could worsen, Dollard said.

"It

could become a total outdoor watering ban. We

don't know because it depends on the

weather," Dollard said. "It also

depends on the levels of Lake Lanier and Lake

Allatoona, which are the two main reservoirs for

the 15-county metro Atlanta area."

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