With some customers still without water Monday afternoon following  a major waterline break on Saturday, city officials are asking residents to voluntarily “stop the unnecessary use of water.”

As of 2:45 p.m. Monday, the number still without water was substantial.

The only other option, city manager Dale Bunn said, would be mandatory rationing.

Bunn said the line break caused the city’s water towers to lose volume.

“We’re using as much as we can pump. We can’t build (volume) back up,” he added. “We’ve asked for this support in the past and it’s always worked.”

Among the uses deemed unnecessary are watering lawns, washing cars and filling pools.

Bunn suggested even cutting back the number of laundry loads will help.

He added the city has never had to implement mandatory rationing in the 10-plus years he has been here.