Sprinkler ban reaches Hamilton
Turn off your garden sprinklers, Hamiltonians – water restrictions not seen in seven years have been put in place.
Record water use in the city has prompted a move to Water Alert Level 3 from yesterday, Hamilton City Council said. That means garden sprinklers cannot be used, only hand-held hosing.
Hamilton used its secondhighest daily amount ever of water on Tuesday, City Waters manager Maire Porter said.
‘‘We’ve seen a 30 per cent increase in outside water use compared to the same period last year.’’ The treatment plant has been operating at close to the maximum of what it can sustain over the past two weeks.
‘‘Our average daily usage in the city is around 55 million litres a day – lately we’ve been pumping 80-85 million litres of quality, treated water every day. ‘‘We know around half of this is being used for lawns, gardens, pools and for washing vehicles and boats. We need to make sure we can continue to supply water for homes and so we need people to reduce their outside water use.’’
Council has to make sure there is enough supply for firefighting purposes in an increasingly-dry region, as well as in the case of routine maintenance or a breakdown at the treatment plant, she said. The council is also reducing its own use of water.
Hamilton’s Water Alert Level will also affect residents in Tauwhare, Gordonton, Matangi, Tamahere, Newstead/Eureka, Wallace Rd and Stonebridge estate, as these areas are supplied by Hamilton’s water network.