EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (KMOX) -  We’ve finally had a little rain in the past week, a much-needed break in the extreme heat.

But the city of Edwardsville continues to enforce a mandatory water conservation order.

Since the order was issued around the first of August, city public works director Tim Harr says the mandatory restrictions have paid off in a big way.

“The usage has dropped…oh, pretty much by a million gallons a day,” Harr tells KMOX News.

That’s a big percentage of the 4.4 million gallons the system was pumping out during the month of May and the maximum output of around 6 million gallons daily.

Of course the effects of the drought have been felt far and wide so why did Edwardsville officials find it necessary to order people not to water their lawns or wash their cars during daylight hours?

“It’s due to the limited capacity we have at the plant for output,” Harr explains.

He thinks Edwardsville water customers — which include those in Glen Carbon, the Northeast Central water district, and SIU-Edwardsville — are getting the message.

“Some people have actually taken that extra step of talking to their neighbor,” Harr adds. “You know…’You’re wasting the water by watering at noon. If you watered at night it would be a whole lot better’.”

They’ve even had a few who’ve taken the extra, extra step of calling police to tattle on their neighbors who are violating the ban.

The city has the authority to issue violation notices but Harr says they haven’t actually done that, despite those scattered reports of water cheaters.

The mandatory restriction on water usage will likely run through early September.