Huntington resident David Nguyen says he feels like people in his area wash their cars very often - despite the hot weather and water restrictions. Photo / Dean Purcell
Huntington resident David Nguyen says he feels like people in his area wash their cars very often - despite the hot weather and water restrictions. Photo / Dean Purcell
Hamilton City Council is pointing fingers at residents of the city's northern suburbs for using disproportionately more water compared to other parts of Hamilton.
Households in areas like Flagstaff, Rototuna, Rototuna North, Huntington, St James Park, and Harrowfield have been using up to 200 litres per day more than suburbs like Dinsdale.
Despite being in level two water restrictions since mid-December, water use has been increasing over the past month across all areas of the city. However, based on litres per capita, the areas supplied by the Rototuna reservoir show that each resident has been using between 500 and 600 litres per day in January.
The council's unit manager of city waters Emily Botje says: "That's a huge amount of water for one person to be using each day. Please consider using less water particularly outside for your garden, on grassed areas, in pools, and when washing vehicles, so we all ... have enough... as this long, dry summer is set to continue."
On social media, Rototuna residents commented, "not surprised. The amount of people I see watering all the concrete around the neighbourhood... during daylight hours too!".
Another comment said it was easy to identify who would use a lot of water. "[I] think we all know who that is... [the] guy with the only "ALIVE" grass in the neighbourhood."
Water consumption by reservoir from December 2021 until January 2022 - the blue curve is Dinsdale, the orange is Rototuna. Graphic / Supplied
Huntington resident David Nguyen says he made similar observations to the ones voiced on social media.
"Judging by what I see around my area, I'd say a lot of [the high water usage] is people trying to keep their grass alive... [additionally to] flowers and plants. And not only [that], some are spraying water on the pavement, too."
He says he also feels like people in his area would also wash their cars more often.
"I knew [the northern suburbs] were using more water than others, but I didn't know it was that much more. When I heard about it, it was a shock."
In his eyes, the council has a point. "The complaints are justified... our water usage could be better... I'm surprised we are still in [water] alert level two."
Hamilton's northern suburbs were using between 500 and 600 litres per day in January. Photo / Supplied
Botje urges residents to use water responsibly saying it might look like the city has plenty of water in the river, but there wasn't an infinite supply.
"There is a limit to how much we can take from the Waikato River each day under our resource consent, but also, there is a limit to how much our water treatment plant can process each day."
Council waters compliance staff are monitoring use, and notifying water wasters via letterbox drop. Concerned residents can also notify the council when they see someone breaking the rules here.
Hamilton is currently in level two of the Smart Water restrictions, meaning sprinklers can be used on alternate days between 6am and 8am and 6pm and 8pm only. If the city's water use stays high, council says there might be further restrictions in the coming weeks.
For the latest information including water restriction information and water-saving tips click here.
