Water use drops after wetter week but Tauranga-wide sprinkler ban remains

Sprinklers are banned but hosing the garden is okay under the council's water restrictions. File photo

Tauranga's water use dropped below warning levels this week but there is no change to the restrictions introduced last week.

Tauranga City Council water manager Steve Burton said people used less water after the recent rain. The council's seven day rolling average dropped to just over 47,500cu m from last week's peak of nearly 52,000cu m.

"But as a city we're still using more water than ever for this time of year," Burton said.

"Rain doesn't top up existing supplies, it just means people use less water for their gardens."

With a hot summer ahead, he said the sprinkler ban was still in effect.

A seven day rolling average of Tauranga City's water use. Supplied/TCC