Drought Restrictions Affecting Window Cleaners

Window Cleaner, Jim Hamilton says, "As soon as the drought came, the phones stopped ringing. I do believe the public is taking the restrictions very seriously and it's taking a toll on us guys who make a living using water," he said.

Business drying up as drought persists (MINT HILL, N.C.) — As drought conditions persist across nearly half of North Carolina, some business owners told Channel 9 they're noticing their customers are spending less and cutting water usage. The combination of heat and a lack of rainfall is bringing back memories of the 2007 drought when business dropped nearly 40 percent. It may get worse this year. And when traffic slows it can trickle down to his employees that could lose hours if times get too tough.

Business has been slow for Jim Hamilton as well. Monday was the first time in two weeks Hamilton suited up in his window-washing gear and he did it to give Eyewitness News a demonstration to show how much water he uses. "As soon as the drought came, the phones stopped ringing. I do believe the public is taking the restrictions very seriously and it's taking a toll on us guys who make a living using water," he said.

He believes they're doing the right thing. There are 47 counties in North Carolina in some form of a drought and Channel 9 meteorologists predict conditions will worsen over the next few days. "We'll all to do our part hopefully and in time, the good lord willing, we'll get through this too," said Hamilton.

Researchers from the National Drought Monitor told Channel 9 they collect reports from across the country showing where drought conditions force businesses to cut employees or expand their services to save jobs. 

Nelson city hall recently had its windows cleaned, in violation of the city's own water restrictions.

Nelson city hall washes windows despite water restrictions: or anyone wondering why city hall was washing its windows recently despite water restrictions, it turns out it was done by an outside contractor who does windows for provincial government buildings. “Due to 310 Ward formerly being a provincial building, the [contractor] still does building maintenance,” public works director Colin Innes told the Star.

“In discussing this issue with them they have indicated that the window washing was organized for all of the buildings they maintain, so our restrictions were not recognized in the setup of the window washing.” Innes said the company is now aware, and will comply with any restrictions in place in Nelson.