Council holds off on water restrictions

With some rain and cooler temperatures forecast for this week, Christchurch City Council is holding off introducing citywide water restrictions – for now.

Despite calls for people to conserve water, Christchurch used more than 506 million litres of water over the weekend, which is slightly more than the previous weekend when Christchurch used the most water used over a weekend since January 2009.

Christchurch used more than 500 million litres of water over the weekend.
"Our pumps and other plant were operating pretty much at capacity 24 hours a day,’’ says Council Three Waters and Waste Technical Manager Tim Drennan.

“If consumption was much higher we'd start to see pressure falling in some areas as we struggle to cope. This, of course, is an inconvenience for people and is a serious concern for our ability to meet any firefighting requirements.

"Thankfully the hot conditions are predicted to ease in the next few days with temperatures in the low 20s and some rain also expected. While this will provide some relief, it's not a solution and we're still asking people to watch their water use,’’ Mr Drennan says.

“Summer is a long way from over and all it takes is a return to the hot days we've had and we're back in the same situation.’’

Mr Drennan says it is important people use water wisely and conserve it where possible.

“We’re still advising people to only water their garden before 6am or after 9pm and to use a trigger gun nozzle on their hose or a watering so they only target the plants that really need it. We’d also encourage people not to water their lawns or their grass berms.’’

Get tips on how to save water.

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