Mandatory water restrictions have been placed on 59,000 homes and businesses in Northern Colorado following Friday's chemical explosion at the Carter Lake Water Treatment Plant.

Customers affected by the water restriction include those who get their water from either the Little Thompson Water District or the Central Weld County Water District.

Customers are to refrain from outdoor watering of any kind, and are to limit any indoor watering to necessary use only, said Capt. Scott Lindschmidt of the Berthoud Fire Department.

"They won't run out of water. It's just the treated water they want to make sure they have enough of," said Mike Bruner of the Berthoud Fire Department.

"Now that we know, we'll restrict our water use outside (and) not water flowers until they let us know it's OK to do so," said Longmont resident Debbie Precht.

Meanwhile, firefighters and Hazmat crews completed the plant cleanup process and have turned the plant over to water district managers.

The explosion happened just southeast of Carter Lake around 7 a.m. Friday.

Officials said two combustible chemicals were accidentally mixed and are what caused part of the treatment facility to explode.

The plant was not operating at 100 percent Sunday. Thus, restrictions were placed on 59,000 customer in in an area stretching from the foothills between Longmont and Loveland east to the South Platte River.