KEY POINTS:
Some have names like Anytime or Instant, but the reality is anything but for the water supply businesses struggling to keep up with record demand in Greater Auckland.
Rainwater-reliant coastal and rural residents waited up to a week to get water delivered to them after nature let them down in a dry February.
Many were caught short, not realising how low on water they they were running.
Maree Mackey, who takes the calls for Instant Water Supply on the Hibiscus Coast, said the number of those urgently wanting water was extreme and the company could not at present fill an order on the day.
Most of the customers had been taken by surprise and people needed to be reminded to check their tank levels, she said.
Helena Ross, part-owner of Anytime Water Supply in Silverdale, said some customers were facing a wait of three days.
"Our area has got bigger as people get more desperate ... We are covering from Coatesville to Kaukapakapa."
Mrs Ross said people with young children or babies were particularly upset.
Bev Speedy, of Quality Water Supplies in Waimauku, said people kept ringing day and night. "It's been terribly more busy than usual. I've never seen it quite as bad before. We are booked out not to just this weekend but to the weekend after."
Grace McKean, of McKean contractors, said it was the busiest summer she could recall. The family had operated a water supply business in the Whenuapai area since 1940 and had built up a fleet of six trucks which meant they had never really fallen too far behind.
Ms McKean said they were now two or three days behind orders which was "a bit embarrassing".
She blames not just a lack of rain but also the wind which was drying gardens out. Landowners were putting pressure on supplies by trying to maintain expensive and large landscaped grounds over summer.
Some people were also trying to get water in too soon, fearing the dry weather would continue, leaving those who had already run out high and dry for even longer.
But for Brett Flavell, owner of Aqua Clear, it was all good news, having just launched his business in Kaukapakapa.
Overstretched water carriers, booked out a week ahead, were passing on jobs to him and he was taking orders as far south as Waitakere.
"I felt really sorry for a couple with newborns who ran out of water because the husband did not check the tank. I've been something of a lifesaver."
One of his customers, Jackie Plaistowe, said she had never run out of water before in the 12 years she had lived in Dairy Flat.
"I had been away a couple of days and put on some washing when I came back. I then decided the floors needed a mop but when I turned on the tap nothing came out."
She paid $220 for two loads of water to keep her and her "thirsty hens" going until the next significant rainfall.
But the water woes were not so bad in other areas.
Denise McLean, of Warren McLean Cartage, which supplies the southern Manukau, said a wet December had primed the tanks. They had three trucks delivering about 30 loads a day.
Angela Burrill at John's Farmlet Services, which works out of Pukekohe, said they were also coping as they had six trucks working. "We've blitzed the list."
Ian Miller, a MetService forecaster, said there would be no significant rain until about next Wednesday or Thursday when a trough was expected to pass over the region.
