Cooler weather eases H20 use

Water restrictions have been lifted across Hamilton City, Waikato district and Waipa district.

An unusually wet summer, cooler temperatures combined with residents managing their water usage has meant treatment plants were able to keep up with demand.

Waipa District Council water services manager, Tony Hale said demand across Waipa varied across summer.

‘‘We had significantly higher rainfall this summer, with 593mm falling from December to midMarch, compared to 314mm for the same period last year.

‘‘The high rain fall meant this was the first year that Waipa stayed at Alert Level One and the earliest restrictions have been completely lifted in the last six years.’’

At its highest, Cambridge water use reached Alert Level 3 triggers, he said.

‘‘Cambridge demand was strongly influenced by the weather, as soon as the sun came out their water use significantly increased.’’

On a rainy day, water use in Cambridge sat around 10 million litres, compared to a sunny day when it rose to 15 million litres.

At its peak, Waipa residents were using 204 million litres of water a week. Metservice forecast into the weekend is for sunny spells towards Friday with scattered rain falling over the Waikato region by Saturday.