After early success with conservation, water use in Triangle communities has leveled and, in some cases, crept up again over the last month.

The steady consumption, combined with a continued lack of rain, is forcing utilities to be more creative in stretching and augmenting their dwindling water supplies. On Tuesday, forecasters told utility directors gathered in Raleigh that the chances of drenching rains remain slim during a time of year when area reservoirs usually refill.

Raleigh Public Utilities Director Dale Crisp said the city is likely to enact Stage 2 restrictions next week, which would close car washes that don't meet city requirements and ban pressure washing, the filling of new swimming pools, and all remaining irrigation. The rules, which would also apply to several towns where Raleigh provides water, would also prohibit builders from testing new city water connections -- something that must occur before homes and businesses can legally be occupied.

Beyond that, the city would enter uncharted territory; it has no written plans beyond Stage 2.

"We're looking ahead at what Stage 3 would look like -- even though we don't have a Stage 3 now," Crisp said. "It's basically everything we haven't considered yet."

Less than two months ago, Gov. Mike Easley urged all North Carolina communities to reduce water consumption by 50 percent. After showing marked declines in the weeks immediately after the governor's challenge, Triangle utilities are now seeing the limits of short-term conservation measures.

"We have gotten most of the stuff that can be gotten by behavior change," said Bill Holman, a senior fellow at Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. "If we're going to make additional gains, it's going to involve policy, pricing and technology."

Ed Kerwin, director of the Orange Water and Sewer Authority, said a 50 percent reduction was ambitious, particularly for already conservation-minded households. Such reductions are also harder to achieve in winter, when people don't use as much water outdoors.

"At this time of year, I do not think it's practical," Kerwin said.

Kerwin met with Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County officials this week to discuss further water-use restrictions, which could prohibit preparing new water and sewer lines by flushing them unless builders could show they can recapture the water and return it to the reservoirs.

In Durham, officials report 45 days of water left in Lake Michie and Little River reservoirs before levels dip below the intake pipe where water needs more treatment. Officials estimate they could squeeze another 56 days of water from below the intake level and get 25 more days from a quarry that will come on line soon.

Frugality in fashion

Now that lawn watering is banned, many Durham residents struggle to find new ways to conserve.

Newman Aguiar, who lives in the Trinity Park neighborhood near downtown Durham, said his family has been mindful of its water use for years.

"I hope that becomes a standard way of how we live," Aguiar said of the current frugality. "That's the reasonable expectation. We should have to use water at that level all the time, and then I think we have a better chance of maintaining our water supply."

Before the drought, Penny Rich's household in Chapel Hill used between 5,000 and 6,000 gallons a month. By putting a timer in the shower for the two pre-teenage boys, and cutting down on dog washing, toilet flushing and dish washing, they are down to about 4,000 gallons a month.

Getting below that has proven difficult. Rich said the family will focus on scraping plates more after meals so they do not have to rinse them before putting them in the dishwasher.

"I always think you can do more," said Rich, a former member of the Orange Water and Sewer Authority board. "It really depends on how much you want to give up."

Some Triangle residents say there's more officials could do to encourage people to conserve.

"I think the city should do a heck of a lot more of trying to enjoin the public to conserve," said Raleigh resident Kendall Sasnett.

Sasnett, 68, said he'd like Raleigh to make water bills easier to read so customers can better track their use. The city currently bills people for water every two months and counts water in hundreds of cubic feet instead of gallons.

"Why don't they give us gallons?" Sasnett said.

Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen said the city's in the process of installing automated meters and new billing software that will allow it to switch to gallons and transition to monthly billing.

That new system won't be in place for another 18 to 24 months.

"We really don't have the capacity to do that now," Allen said.