CHICAGO — Chicago residents are being asked to conserve water on Monday as showers and storms sweep across the area. 

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) of Greater Chicago has declared Monday as an “Overflow Action Day.”

The MWRD issued an Overflow Action Alert in an effort to reduce the amount of water in municipal sewers, to help avoid flooding and sewer backups as storms batter the area. 

Residents are being asked to delay showers and baths, flush toilets less frequently and wait to run the dishwasher or washing machine to help avoid flooding inside and around homes. The MWRD has a full list of actions residents can take to prevent flooding on its website.

According to the alert, flooding and sewer backups can happen for several reasons. The MWRD says it treats an average of 1.47 billion gallons of wastewater per day, but during storms, the number reaches above 2 billion gallons. After several days of rain, the MWRD has less capacity to hold and treat additional water.

Several rounds of showers and storms are expected on Monday, bringing the risk of severe weather and heavy rain.

Get the WGN Weather app or visit the wgntv.com Weather Center for updated forecasts

According to WGN Meteorologists, some areas could see between 0.75″ to 1.00″ of rainfall.

The risk of severe weather is expected to continue into the evening hours.