This was revealed on Tuesday by WASA officials during a media briefing at the Caroni water treatment plant in St Helena.

Saying it was the worst drought in recent memory, WASA's Director of Operations Shaira Ali said there was a significant deficit in production owing to minimal rainfall and consistent declines throughout all of WASA's surface-water facilities.

Ali said the new water restrictions would be for areas which, prior to March 1, had a continuous supply and were not on the authority's regular water schedule.

She called the adjustment of schedules – which would see a redistribution of water from areas which previously had a continuous supply, to those with reduced supplies – as necessary, along with the installation of digital devices at the country's main reservoirs which would constantly monitor water levels.

Director of Customer Care Natasha Andrews said the Water and Sewerage Act, Chapter 54:40, bans the use of hoses and similar apparatus for watering private gardens and/or washing private cars, during the dry season.

Additionally, she said WASA was taking water theft very seriously, saying its estate police unit would be doing heightened patrols throughout the country. She urged people to help WASA ensure everyone had access to water during the period by following regulations.

Andrews spoke about an increase in fines for wasting water, with WASA's board already approving a proposal for such an increase. When asked about car-wash businesses, Andrews clarified that they could still operate, but must use buckets instead of hoses.

However, water fountains and decorative fixtures using water are not allowed in business places or private homes.

WASA CEO: Rervoir levels low

WASA's CEO Kelvin Romain said this year's drought was the worst the authority had seen, and he pleaded with the public to conserve water.

He said, owing to the extreme weather conditions, the Caroni water treatment plant which serves over half the population with seven million gallons of water per day, was now functioning at 65 per cent capacity, experiencing low reservoir levels.

Romain said the Caroni plant extended its services south all the way to La Brea, and the desalination plant, which usually produced 40 million gallons of water per day, had to reduce production to 37 million gallons.

“We have been here already. The desalination plant during the dry season usually suffers from higher algae build-up, which affects our extremities.

"What we are doing to mitigate this is increasing our trucking capacity and we expect conservation from our customers.” Romain said WASA was undertaking further optimising of its system, focusing primarily on leak repairs and replacement of faulty parts. Romain said the Navet water treatment plant, which primarily served the south-east parts of Trinidad, was also producing less water.

He said Navet also serviced the Mayaro area and WASA was taking measures to offset any shortfall to its customers.

At the Hillsborough dam, production has dropped from 1.4 million gallons to