Neighbours’ eyes on water users
Aucklanders are listening but dam levels are still falling
Water-conscious Aucklanders have been keeping a close eye on the neighbours, with more than 100 tip-offs in the first two days after restrictions came into force.
Yet despite a small drop in usage, storage dam levels continue to fall after a dry weekend for the Super City and no rain forecast all week.
Water supplier Watercare said the weekend’s usage was down to 413 million litres a day (mld), 8mld less than the previous weekend’s average.
“These are promising results which indicate Aucklanders are listening and, in the most part, resisting the urge to wash their cars and water their gardens on a dry weekend,” a spokeswoman said.
After the driest four months of a year in Auckland’s history, dam levels are sitting at 43.9 per cent — compared with a historical average for this time of year of 76.7 per cent.
Restrictions that began on Saturday, for the first time since 1994, ban residents from washing cars or watering gardens with outdoor hoses.
Watercare received 120 tip-offs about breaches of restrictions over the weekend, but was taking an “education-first approach” at this stage, and no fines had been issued, the spokeswoman said.
“Our team is calling the commercial customers and emailing residential customers to ensure they are aware of the restrictions.”
Rogue water users can be hit with fines up to $20,000.
Watercare had earlier asked breaches to be reported or for residents to have a friendly conversation with anybody seen flouting the restrictions to remind them of the shortage of the precious resource.
People can wash their car or water their garden as long as they use a bucket or watering can rather than a hose, Watercare said.
Hoses and water blasters are banned for home or business use unless it is for a health, safety, emergency or biosecurity reason.
Affected businesses, including those in the exterior cleaning industry, have complained the restrictions are discriminatory towards them.
Troy Hillard, managing director of Wash Rite, which has seven franchises in Auckland, said the ban on the use of hoses and water blasters could cut their revenue by 70 per cent, just as they limp out of Covid19 impacts. Several other businesses have contacted the Herald stating the restrictions could lead to job losses.
Watercare had offered to support businesses with tanks of non-potable water to be used in all water-blasting and cleaning work, and said it would set up stations for collection in Onehunga, Penrose and Albany.
But an email it sent to businesses on Friday said although they’d all be open on Saturday, from Monday only the Penrose outlet would be open.
The Herald has contacted Auckland Council for comment.
Meanwhile, Watercare is working to increase its capacity at the Waikato River Water Treatment Plant to take an additional 25mld. Work is expected to be completed by August.
At present Watercare draws 150mld from the Waikato River, which makes up just over a third of the region’s daily usage.
To address the short-term shortage, Watercare is also getting Hays Creek Dam in Papakura running again, and re-establishing a mobile treatment plant at a Pukekohe bore.
Auckland’s council-owned and -operated swimming pools are staying closed because of the water restrictions.