Orewa and Whangaparaoa implored to start saving water

Residents in Orewa and the Whangaparaoa Peninsula are being asked to save water to avoid shortages.

Demand for water has nearly outstripped the mains supply in the fast-growing areas north of Auckland. As a result Rodney District Council has called for voluntary cuts in water use and engineers have scrambled on works to boost supply and storage.

The savings pleas follow a recent holiday weekend when the demands on the Watercare pipeline came too close for comfort.

Residents and industries were using 10,500 cu m, compared with 11,000 cu m which Watercare can pump along the mains pipe from a reservoir in Glenvar Rd, on the North Shore.

Council service manager Peter Reid said the council had planned with Watercare to strengthen the supply to the area. But development over the past two years, with 1600 new connections, had outstripped forecasts, said Mr Reid.

The "consumption spike" was added to by a rush on tanker refills for residents who have resisted connecting to the town supply.

About 40 per cent of the Hibiscus Coast's 12,800 households prefer untreated rainwater caught on their roofs and stored in tanks.

But a long spell of fine weather meant anxious checks on low tank levels for many. Tanker firms were called for a top-up. They fill up from bulk filling sites along the Watercare pipeline from Glenvar Reservoir.

Steve Ross, of Instant Water Supply, said the tight supply prompted the council to close the Whangaparaoa filling site.

Drivers had to travel a congested route to a Silverdale site only to be further delayed by the water pressure being reduced.

Mr Ross said it resulted in longer delivery waits for peninsula residents.

Increased costs had forced up the price of a 10,000 litre refill by $15, to $145.

The water crisis also prompted residents to point the finger at the Snowplanet indoor ski slope at Silverdale, whose machines are busy turning water into powder snow for its opening early next month.

Snowmaking uses 40 to 60 cu m of water nightly.

Watercare says it is putting in a new bulk supply point ahead of schedule to supply Snowplanet and is promising relief for demand peaks at Whangaparaoa next summer.

The northern area is due for a $20 million upgrade and project manager Andy Spittal said tenders were being evaluated for stage one, which included building a 7500 cu m reservoir at Scott Rd on the highest point of the peninsula.

Construction is to start next month.

But the reservoir would not supply more water, said Mr Spittal.

That would come with stage two - a second pipeline to Glenelg Rd from the Glenvar Reservoir.

The work was scheduled for 2006-2007 but was already under way and would be finished in December 2006.

Rodney District Council will spend $900,000 on connecting the new reservoir to the water supply.

Water woes

* Housing and industrial growth in the Rodney district has outstripped water supply forecasts.

* Voluntary water savings are called for, to avoid shortages.

* A $20 million project to bring relief includes a second water main from a North Shore reservoir to Orewa and a new reservoir on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.