With virus cases down, Florida cities resume usual water use

By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Two of Florida’s largest cities have ended water emergencies now that COVID-19 hospitalizations have declined in the state. Back in August, the city-owned Orlando Utilities Commission asked residents to stop watering their lawns or washing their cars because liquid oxygen that is used for treating the city’s water was being diverted to hospitals for patients suffering from the virus. Around the same time, the Tampa Water Department started using chlorine instead of liquid oxygen to disinfect its water. Utility officials in Orlando said Tuesday that residents can resume their normal water use. In Tampa, water department officials also said they were going back to using oxygen.