Masterton leaking a lot of water

Masterton is a large town with just three days of water storage and a per capita rate of daily use much higher than Wellington’s.

The 434 litres a day people use in the Wairarapa town compares to an average of 250 in Wellington.

It is not unusual for people in a regional town to use more water than in a city, says David Hopman, the Masterton District Council assets and operation manager.

Masterton uses surface water, taken from a deep river pool up against a cliff in the upper Waingawa River and fed down a four-kilometre pipe, using gravity rather than a pump, and treated at a plant in Kaituna.

The town is light on storage but if a private water storage scheme just up the country road from the treatment plant goes ahead, a valley will be dammed and flooded and the water will be 40m deep in places.

The council has plans for new storage below its treatment plant, which would give the town 30 days of supply.

A rough costing of $5.7 million is in the long-term plan a few years away.

Just because plans are being worked up for better storage doesn’t mean people should not be looking at their own water use, Hopman says.

The restrictions actually aren’t coming from the district council, they are coming from the regional council, he said.

‘‘Using sprinklers on alternate days, fixing leaks, no leaking taps. It all helps . . . Really we are trying to get people to understand water is a valuable resource and they haven’t always understood that because they haven’t had to pay,’’ he said.

There is the mystery of the missing water. Most water networks lose about 15 per cent but Masterton loses about 30 per cent.

The network is half public pipes and half the pipes are on private properties.

The council has spent $10m to $15m in the last seven or so years on new pipes.