Clifton Forge plans to issue mandatory water restrictions, but it has nothing to do with recent drought conditions.

Instead, the town will institute the restrictions as a precaution while it upgrades its nearly 50-year-old water treatment plant.

The mandatory conservation will most likely begin in October.

The restrictions are necessary because the treatment plant will be shut down at times during the $1.2 million upgrade, said Bob Irvine, the plant's manager. "It may seem like an extreme measure, but it's just something we feel like we need to do for public safety and public health," he said.

The town's water storage tank should have enough water capacity to serve residents during the downtime, but town officials felt the restrictions are needed just to make sure.

Clifton Forge has 8,000 residential and commercial water customers, including some residents in Alleghany County and the town of Iron Gate. The public will be notified about the shutdowns through the local newspaper, The Virginian Review, five days in advance of the plant upgrades.

The water restrictions will include no watering of lawns, flowers or gardens and no car washing. Businesses that use a lot of water, such as restaurants and commercial car washes, will also be asked to cut back on usage.

The water restrictions will take effect 24 hours prior to the announced shutdown and 24 hours following the shutdown. Irvine said the first shutdown -- expected to last about six hours -- isn't expected to take place until mid-October.

The water plant was built in 1959. The upgrade will include replacing the treatment plant's main electronic control system, as well as an array of valves and filters.

The amount of time it will take to upgrade the plant was unclear Thursday.