If consumption of water and electricity and outflow of sewage is an indication, this has been a busy summer on the Vineyard.

The three down-Island towns all report increased water usage, much of it tied to the drought and heat.

Edgartown reports the largest numbers for water use and sewage flow. From January through July, the Edgartown water department pumped more than 161 million gallons of water to its customers. Last year the number was just over 120 million gallons.

In July alone this year, the Edgartown water department pumped 70.5 million gallons of water, compared with 46 million gallons last July.

Weather conditions are of course a factor.

Edgartown water superintendent Fred Domont noted that last summer was unusually cool and wet, while this year has been unusually hot and humid. During the hottest days of July, Mr. Domont said the water department ran three active pumps simultaneously 18 to 21 hours a day, with a fourth pump on standby.

Oak Bluffs was thirsty too.

In July, Oak Bluffs water customers consumed more than 69 million gallons and averaged 2.2 million gallons of water a day, according to water superintendent Tom Degnan, who has been on the job for 16 months.

Peak water use in Oak Bluffs was on July 4, when more than three million gallons of water were consumed in a single day.

The Oak Bluffs water district tank holds two million gallons. The tank is always full, but on a few hot summer days, Mr. Degnan said water department workers watched with interest to see how well the pumps kept up. “We have five wells, but we had four pumps running the majority of the day,” he said. The pumps kept apace, but at around 4 p.m. on at least one of the days, Mr. Degnan said he and his colleagues eyed a graph as the water level in the tank started to recede. Normally the water level stays even.

“We were sweating,” Mr. Degnan said. Fortunately it was a momentary event.

The Tisbury water district pumped 35.2 million gallons in July this year, compared with 29 million gallons in July last year.

The town has a 1.25-million-gallon tank in the center of town. On a single day in July water customers consumed a little over a million gallons, an amount that could have filled the tank, observed town water superintendent Tim Sylvia. Mr. Sylvia said Memorial Day weekend marked the peak day for usage in Vineyard Haven.

On the other end of the spectrum, so to speak, Joe Alosso, Edgartown wastewater treatment superintendent, said the Fourth of July weekend marked peak usage at the treatment plant, when 449,332 gallons of wastewater were treated, slightly more than the 440,776 gallons treated during the same period a year ago.

The Edgartown wastewater plant processed 10.8 million gallons of wastewater in July, compared with 10.7 million gallons a year ago.

Oak Bluffs sewage use is markedly down from a year ago. Mr. Alosso, who is also superintendent for the smaller Oak Bluffs wastewater plant, recorded just over 5 million gallons treated in July of this year, down from 5.6 million gallons a year ago.

So what do the numbers mean? “This is probably due to the fact that most people are out of the house and enjoying the sunshine,” Mr. Alosso said, adding: “Edgartown’s peak day is always the Fourth of July and Oak Bluffs’s peak day is the shark tournament. Oak Bluffs will surpass this number on the day and night of the fireworks which has historically been the busiest day at the treatment plant.”

As for electricity use, the numbers have stayed pretty even over the years, according to Michael Durand, a spokesman for NSTAR. The Vineyard gets all its electricity from the mainland via three underwater cables; five backup generators are available if needed. There are two generators on the West Tisbury side of the Martha’s Vineyard Airport and three at NSTAR headquarters off the Vineyard Haven-Edgartown Road.

Peak electricity use occurred this year on July 6, when the Island used 50.6 million watts of electricity. On August 21 last year during a heat wave, the Island used 51.8 million watts of electricity. The last peak before that was on August 2 in 2006 when 50.6 million watts of electricity were used.

Daily consumption hovers between 46 and 48 million watts, Mr. Durand said.

“The demand on the Island over the last several years has been fairly consistent. It all depends on the year and the weather,” he said.