TUPPER LAKE — After this village switched over to a new, well-fed water system on June 29, Water Department Superintendent Mark Robillard is asking for Tupper Lakers help push the limits of the new system.

Robillard said he recently got a memo from the state health department telling water operators to warn residents to not over-water their lawns in the dry summer, “but I want to kind of push our well water to the limit,” he said.

He said not to worry about using too much water. The wells can handle it, and with the extreme weather, he wants to see how the system will work in the worst conditions. Robillard did also say that to pump more water means the system must use more power, so residents should not just leave hoses running, but they can feel free to keep their lawns green.

Village Trustee Ron LaScala said that with the dry weather, he was curious how the new $6 million underground water system is faring. Robillard said it is holding up nicely.

“It’s 54 feet [deep] with the pump off,” Robillard said. “The pump will come on, and it’ll drop down to 42 feet, and then it will come right back and level off.”

The new well system draws from underground streams instead of Tupper Lake and Little Simond Pond, standing bodies of water. This means that the water is treated with around a third of the chemicals and that it is not affected by weather as severely.

“We are not paying overtime right now that we normally would pay during a dry year like this,” LaScala said.

“We would be up to the Tupper Lake plant, backwashing around the clock,” Robillard said. “Two men on overtime at night, in the evening.”

When the direction of the water flow changed, sediment deposited over decades was shaken loose and entered residential pipes for around a week, causing the water to be cloudy as it carried sand, dirt, barnacle-like corrosions and whatever else had gathered in the pipe.

Water crews spent the week backwashing extensively, and Robillard said the water should be clear by now. He added that if people still have cloudy water, they should call the water department.

Mayor Paul Maroun said he heard from several people in new areas of the Junction neighborhood who had experienced reduced water pressure. Code Enforcement Officer Pete Edwards said his garden hose had seen a drop in pressure, too.

Robillard said that if someone experiences decreased pressure in just kitchen faucets, he or she should check the filter for debris from the backwashing.

The village is still drawing a little bit of water from Little Simond Pond.