Media release
19 March 2013
Keep saving, even if it’s raining
Rain across the region doesn’t mean we are out of the woods yet regarding water savings, says Fran Wilde, Chair of the
Greater Wellington Regional Council.
“The good news is that huge savings are being made and it’s been raining.
“The catchments have received more rain than was forecast which is good, but because the rivers are too dirty to treat
we have had to dip into the aquifer and our emergency storage.
“The other good news is that the rain means we now expect that it will take longer (about 5 to 7 days) for rivers to
return to pre-rain levels. This means we can re-fill the storage lake and still have enough to meet demand.
Chair Wilde says Wellingtonians deserve a huge vote of thanks for the effort they put into saving water and is
encouraging the savings to continue.
“On Sunday demand dropped significantly and yesterday overall use was reduced to 113 ML – the second lowest demand since
records began in 1997,” she said.
“However, we need those conservation efforts to remain for the foreseeable future. The rain is predicted to ease off
soon and there will be another spell of dry weather, so we need to use the current rain to replenish the storage lake.
Every litre saved now will help if we do go into drought conditions again.
The outdoor water use ban and water conservation steps by households and businesses in Wellington, Lower Hutt, Porirua
and Upper Hutt over the weekend saw a reduction in demand from 145 million litres (ML) last Wednesday, to 125 ML on
Sunday. On Monday the demand reduced to 113ML as people went back to work.
For more tips, visit www.gw.govt.nz/water
Last week’s statistics:
DayWater supplied (million litres/ML)
Wednesday 145
Thursday 140
Friday 133
Saturday 131
Sunday 125
Monday 113