Residents are urged to use less water, particularly outside for gardens, on grassed areas, in pools, and when washing vehicles. Photo / Dean Purcell
Residents are urged to use less water, particularly outside for gardens, on grassed areas, in pools, and when washing vehicles. Photo / Dean Purcell
Hamilton has broken its own record for most water used in a day, despite the city being under water restrictions.
City council waters unit manager Emily Botje is concerned people aren't taking the "save water" message seriously.
Last Tuesday, January 18, nearly 91 million litres of water was used by Hamilton's 60,000 households and businesses. That works out on average to more than 10 bathtubs full of water per household, per day – the highest consumption day on record.
This high-use day was also not a one-off, with the top three highest daily figures recorded across Sunday (88.42 million litres), Monday (88.92 million litres), and Tuesday (90.84 million litres).
"The amount of water that we are currently using is alarming," Botje said.
"Hamilton is just about at the maximum sustainable level of water processing that our plant is able to provide.
"We strongly urge residents to reduce the amount of water they are using, particularly outdoors, because there is extraordinary pressure on our network right now and we want to make sure we all continue to have enough in the coming weeks and months.
The Waikato River running through Hamilton. Photo / Supplied
"At the same time, we recognise there are plenty of people who are doing the right thing, and we'd like to thank those Hamiltonians for their efforts."
Earlier this month, the council released figures showing residents of the city's northern suburbs were using disproportionately more water compared to other parts of the city
Households in areas such as Flagstaff, Rototuna, Rototuna North, Huntington, St James Park and Harrowfield had been using between 500 and 600 litres a day – which is 200 litres a day more than suburbs such as Dinsdale. Residents were urged to consider using less water particularly outside for gardens, on grassed areas, in pools, and when washing vehicles.
Hamilton has had level two water restrictions since mid-December, with sprinklers only permitted 6am-8am and 6pm-8pm on alternate days. Handheld hosing is still allowed at any time.
The Smart Water restrictions have a strong focus on outdoor water use because although Hamilton's water use spikes during the hotter months, data suggests that a large proportion of water used by Hamiltonians is used outside.
Only about half of the water used by the city ends up at the Pukete wastewater treatment plant, indicating that there can sometimes be up to 45 million litres of water being used to water lawns and gardens and top up swimming pools on the city's hottest days.
"We can't infinitely take, there are limits to this resource. We all have a responsibility to ensure we're doing all we can to save water," said Botje.
If water consumption remains at current levels, Hamilton could expect more restrictions in the coming weeks.
For more tips on how you can be smart with water, visit smartwater.org.nz.
