Water ban a flow-on call

WATER restrictions will be introduced in the greater Hobart region later this month.

The stage 1 water restrictions will take effect from December 20.

For residential, public and commercial gardens and lawns, manual watering systems may be used only between 6am and 8am, and 8pm and 10pm. Automatic watering systems may be used olny between midnight and 4am — but handheld hoses with a trigger nozzle, buckets or watering cans can be used at any time.

The same rules will apply to the watering of sports grounds.

A bucket, high pressure cleaning device or commercial car wash can be used at any time for vehicle washing.

TasWater chief executive Michael Brewster said the move would require only small changes to how people used water.

Stage 1 water restrictions aim to reduce non-essential water use by 20 per cent by encouraging more conscious use of water at home and at work.

TasWater said the decision to introduce restrictions came after consideration of engineers and scientists who monitored the drinking water network across the state.

It said scenarios were run that modelled increased demand, essential maintenance, projected demand and longerterm outlook for weather patterns.

“Our analysis also has to take into account the cumulative effect these factors have, not only for this year but for next year and subsequent years too,’’ Mr Brewster said.

“At this point, stage 1 restrictions are deemed to be appropriate, and the earlier we can implement them, the less impact there will be on our community over time.

“Even though stage 1 restrictions don’t commence until December 20, we encourage residents, tourists, industrial and agricultural customers — in fact, we ask any user of our systems — to think about how they use water and make small changes where they can.”

Restrictions are expected to be in place until the end of February.

Primary industries and Water Minister Guy Barnett said the measures were prudent and necessary: “I encourage all Tasmanians to use water wisely,” he said.

Labor’s David O’Byrne said the restrictions were made necessary by long-term underinvestment in the reservoirs servicing Hobart.