Hamiton water restrictions eased

Hamilton's water restrictions have been eased. Photo / File

After two months at water alert level two, Hamilton City dropped back to level one on Wednesday afternoon.

A decrease in the amount of water being consumed and wet weather forecast for the coming week has seen the city's water alert level drop.

Hamilton City Council city waters manager Maire Porter said the city's water use had decreased over recent weeks, triggering the lowering in water alert levels.

"Earlier this summer we were concerned at the high level of water use in the city; however, for the past few weeks residents have clearly taken a proactive approach to water use and as a result the consumption levels dropped to a more appropriate level — allowing restrictions to ease as a result," Mrs Porter said.

The change to alert level one means sprinkler systems are now permitted between 6am to 8am and 6pm to 8pm daily rather than on alternate days.

"Even though water restrictions have now been reduced we need people to stick to water alert level one restrictions, and to generally be smart about their non-essential water use, especially outside, to avoid the need to return to a higher alert level in the coming months."

The water alert levels and their corresponding requirements are a way to use water in a sustainable manner and ensure consistent supply throughout summer.

Hamilton City had been on water alert level two since December 7 after an increase in water use over the Christmas period.

The highest day of water use so far this summer was on December 6 when the city used 79.2 million litres, one million litre adds up to 6250 baths of water.

The average use of water per day at the start of February had dropped to 66.8 million litres a day.