Water restriction status signs have been erected at key locations in Whakatāne and Ōhope to remind residents of the need to conserve water until the current period of dry weather ends.
Whakatāne District Council Infrastructure General Manager Tomasz Krawczyk says voluntary reductions may help to avoid the need for formal restrictions on hose and sprinkler use by ensuring that reservoir storage for the Whakatāne and Ōhope water supply schemes stays at an acceptable level.
“The current low river flow means that salinity encroaches upriver on high tides, which restricts the amount of water we can extract at the Water Treatment Station,” he says. “We’ve addressed that by extending our emergency intake a further 500 metres upstream and increasing the pumping capacity, but if the river level continues to fall, it’s possible the salinity situation could worsen to a point where it also affected the water quality at the emergency intake.”
While there is no immediate threat, Mr Krawczyk says the Council has put in place a three-stage restriction process, which will be implemented if the need arises. Stage two would see the current blue ‘voluntary conservation’ signs replaced by orange signs indicating that hoses and sprinklers can only be used on alternate days, between the hours of 6:00 am - 8:00 am and 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm. Properties with an ‘odd’ street number (such as 3 or 23) would be restricted to using a hand-held hose for garden watering on odd days of the month (April 19 or 21, for example), while properties with ‘even’ street numbers would be restricted to even days of the month (such as April 16 or 18).
The third stage, marked by a red water restriction status sign, would see a total ban introduced on all hose and sprinkler use.
“We hope that restrictions can be avoided, but that’s entirely dependent on the river flow and tidal situation and the ability of households and businesses to make voluntary reductions in their water usage,” Mr Krawczyk says.
Some simple conservation tips include:
- Bucket-wash cars or boats, if possible
- Don’t refill or top-up swimming pools
- If you know you have leaking taps, fix them now
- Flush toilets sparingly
- Don’t use your bath and cut your shower time down as much as possible
- While waiting for hot water to flow through to showers or taps, catch the unused water in a bucket for use in washing machines or for other purposes
Regular information will be provided to keep consumers up-to-date with consumption trends and the water treatment and storage situation.