Greater Cincinnati Water Works crews worked Saturday to repair damage to a pumping station that prompted water restrictions on the second day of a heat emergency.

        The Tristate continued to bake as an unforgiving sun shot temperatures back up near 100 degrees and continued the city's first heat emergency since 1999's fatal summer heat wave.

        Medical crews reported only a few minor heat-related calls, and the eight air-conditioned centers set up by the Cincinnati Health Department stayed virtually empty.

        Water works customers were asked to limit water use for such activities as sprinkling lawns, filling pools and washing cars to alternating days. Residents in even-numbered houses are asked to limit outdoor water use to Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Those in odd-numbered houses are asked to water only on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.

        The pumps, located on Eastern Avenue in Columbia Tusculum, were damaged after a power failure early Friday afternoon was coupled with high water demand.

        The pumps already are partially repaired, and nearly a dozen people are working around the clock to get them fully operational by Monday, director David Rager said.

        “We're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll have everything working in about two days,” he said Saturday night. “But that's if everything goes right.”

        The last time the city was under voluntary restrictions was in the mid-1990s because of high summer demands.

        “If this had happened in the winter months, people wouldn't have even known because we could have compensated in other ways,” Mr. Rager said.

        Customers might experience low water pressure while repairs are made.

        Saturday's high was 96 degrees, but AccuWeather says it felt more like 104 — 98 in the shade. The hot and humid air mass that's sending the mercury up will stay in place through today and Monday.

        The forecast: today, a high of 96; Monday, 92. Tuesday's temperature should top out at 84 degrees.

        The last time the temperature hit 100 here was July 30, 1999, when it rose to 101. That year's heat wave claimed 19 lives in Hamilton County.

        The coroner has not yet announced whether the Thursday death of a 77-year-old Over-the-Rhine woman was caused by the heat. Mamie Brown had a fan, but she kept her windows closed because she feared the drug dealers that hang around outside her building on Pleasant Street.

        In spite of the heat, few Cincinnatians took refuge in the “cool centers” advertised by the Cincinnati Health Department.

        “There's nobody here,” said Bernice Walker, who was working at the Evanston site Saturday afternoon. “Just kids running in and out getting water and using the bathroom.”

        The Corryville Recreation Center was busy with a baby shower and regular basketball games during the open-gym time, but no visitors trying to get out of the heat.

        “Nobody's come in and said that's why they're here,” said Amy Moreno. “Nobody's come in and asked for a fan, either.”

        There weren't a lot of people either at one place you might expect to be busy on a hot day — a pool, specifically Philipps Swim Club in Covedale. Some regulars stayed just long enough to jump in for a little bit, but the heat was too great to stay poolside very long. Lifeguards made sure they stuck to their 15-minute rotations so they didn't spend too long sitting in the lifeguard chair.

        “You've just got to hop in the water on all your breaks,” said seven-year lifeguard Megan Thom, 21. “Just hopping in the water helps a lot.”

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