Total outdoor water ban on the cards

Palmerston North City Council is signalling a total outdoor water ban by mid-January unless the weather changes.

However, residents may be able to delay tougher water restrictions if everyone pulls together to conserve more water, says Dora Luo, PNCC Water Asset Engineer.

Luo is congratulating residents on their water conservation efforts to date. The city’s water use has dropped by 10 per cent since Council introduced a ban on sprinklers and irrigation systems last week. But it needs to drop further still, Luo says.

“Lots of people are going out of their way to use less water, and we really appreciate it. To preserve our water supply, we need more people to join in the water conservation efforts.”

Council staff will begin patrolling next week to remind people restrictions are in place.

The city has not received any significant rainfall since mid-October, and Turitea dam storage levels have dropped to about 60 per cent.

Council has severely restricted its own water use, and spoken to commercial users to encourage them to use less as well.

“We’re also making some items available to households to help them do the right thing.”

From Monday until the Christmas shutdown, people can call into the Council Customer Service Centre on the Square between 8am and 5pm and pick up a water conservation pack. The packs contain:

A minute timer that sticks to your shower wall
A bag to measure how much water your shower uses per minute – this will help you determine whether to change to a low-flow shower head
A water-limiting gizmo for your loo – this is a device for older toilets that don’t have a dual flushing mechanism. It’s simple to install, and will reduce the amount of water wasted when you flush.

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