Every Sunday, “Back in the Day” looks at an article that ran on this date in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The items are verbatim, so don’t blame us today for yesteryear’s bad grammar.

Although officials at the Honolulu Board of Water Supply have threatened to penalize those who fail to comply with mandatory water conservation measures, no violators have received more than a phone call or warning letter.

That’s because individuals and companies that have used more water than they’re supposed to have had good reasons for doing so, a spokeswoman for the water board said.

Residential and business customers were ordered to cut water use by 10 percent in June when water consumption on the Island was reaching critically low levels. Large-scale irrigation users are required to reduce use by 25 percent.

So far, the water board has received 1,328 requests from residents seeking exemptions from the quotas. Of those, 524 applications have been approved, board spokeswoman Martha Goo said.

Another 140 were dismissed because they were unnecessary and the remainder are still being considered, Goo said.

The board has received complaints about the across-the-board limit of 21,000 gallons for all single-family residences, regardless of how many people live in a house, she said.

Because this is the first time the state has imposed mandatory conservation measures, Goo said some problems have surfaced. …

Thomas Ashimine, customer service administrator for the board, said many residents automatically applied for the exceptions when the quotas were imposed — "just to be on the safe side."

He said board officials took no action on a lot of those applications after convincing residents that they could live within the restrictions.

Most of the exceptions were granted for families with visitors or new babies or children home for the summer, Goo said.

"There really are special circumstances," she said. …

She said about 3,000 customers have been contacted in the past month.

If those people keep using too much, board officials say they will send written notices to violators who also could face fines or jail terms.

Because business customers receive water bills monthly, Goo said letters already are going out to companies like hotels who are among the largest violators of the quotas.