Claremont — With the city’s public water supplies at alarmingly low levels from the drought that has hit New England, the Department of Public Works is asking residents to voluntarily conserve water.

The measures those on the city’s water system can take include shorter showers and running dishwashers and washers only with full loads. Watering lawns, washing cars or filling swimming pools should also be curtailed but those are not done much this time of year or through the winter.

Assistant Director of Public Works Vic St. Pierre said on Thursday the DPW will seek to get an ordinance mandating water restrictions passed by the City Council but that will take time to finalize.

Earlier this week, St. Pierre said the Sugar River, where the city draws about 29 percent of its water, is moving at just 16 cubic feet per second. Additionally, the city’s primary water source, White Reservoir, has dropped below 100 million gallons from its maximum capacity of 140 million gallons. The city’s 3,600 water customers use about 1.2 million gallons of water a day.

— Staff report