Pool sales up 84pc amid dry spell
New Zealanders are splashing out on pools amid one of the driest starts to summer on record.
Since late November the number of pool sales on Trade Me has increased 84 per cent to more than 200 a day.
There were more than 25,250 searches for swimming pools on the auction site between Monday and Tuesday, despite water restrictions in place in many parts of the country.
But city councils are warning that filling swimming pools will worsen the water crisis.
Every region is facing some sort of water restriction, with some such as Southland facing the driest start to summer since 1990.
Wellington is currently in drought-like conditions and is under a sprinkler-use ban to save water. But usage continues to outstrip supply, causing utility company Wellington Water to draw increasingly from emergency supply lakes at Te Marua in Upper Hutt. The lakes usually remain untapped until late January.
Wellington City Council spokesman Richard McClean said if people continue to fill their pools the council may have to ban it.
He recommended people go to the beach or local pools instead.
Last week, Napier residents were told the city could run out of water if people didn’t conserve it. Napier City Council infrastructure manager John Kingsford said reservoir levels were the lowest they had been in recent years.
Taupo and Tauranga residents bought the most swimming pools since Saturday, followed by Northland, Hawkes Bay and Wellington.
Residential pools deeper than 40 centimetres must have a 1.2-metre fixed childproof fence with a selfclosing gate opening outwards.