Hamilton City Council has moved to Water Alert Level 3 from Thursday 6 February, in response to record water-use in past
weeks.
The change means garden sprinklers cannot be used, in either residential or commercial properties, and hand-held hosing
only is permitted.
It’s the first time in seven years the city has had to implement the restrictions, and Maire Porter, City Waters
Manager, says the Council has been forced to react.
“We’ve seen a 30% increase in outside water use compared to the same period last year and our water treatment plant
yesterday supplied the second-highest daily amount ever to Hamilton,” Ms Porter says.
“There has been a sustained level of very high usage, over the past two weeks, which has meant our plant has been
operating constantly close to its maximum sustainable production levels. Our average daily usage in the city is around
55 million litres a day – lately we’ve been pumping 80-85 million litres of quality, treated water every day.
“We know around half of this is being used for lawns, gardens, pools and for washing vehicles and boats. We need to make
sure we can continue to supply water for homes and so we need people to reduce their outside water use.”
Ms Porter says a key part of the decision to move to Alert Level 3 is ensuring supply can be maintained during routine
maintenance, in the event of a breakdown or for firefighting purposes in an increasingly-dry region.
Cr Angela O’Leary, Chair of the city’s Infrastructure Operations Committee, says “Council staff have held off changing
to Alert Level 3 until now, while many other areas of the country have been implementing or increasing their
restrictions, including total bans on outdoor water use in some places.
“Water is a precious resource and as a community we need to keep working towards being smarter and more sustainable
about how we use it.
“The Council teams will be monitoring the situation closely in coming days and weeks and I’d like to thank those
Hamiltonians who are making the effort to conserve water in what is one of the driest and hottest spells our city has
seen,” Cr O’Leary says.
Hamilton City Council is reducing or eliminating water usage for many of its operations and developing action plans
across the organisation to conserve water.
Hamilton’s Water Alert Level will also affect residents in Tauwhare, Gordonton, Matangi, Tamahere, Newstead/Eureka,
Wallace Rd and Stonebridge estate, as these areas are supplied by Hamilton’s water network.About the water alert level system:
The Water Alert Levels and their corresponding requirements are a way to use water in a sustainable manner and ensure
consistent supply throughout summer. The water alert level system consists of four alert levels and matching
requirements.
Water Alert Level 1
Use sprinkler systems between 6am – 8am and 6pm – 8pm
Hand-held hosing can be used anytime
Water Alert Level 2
Use sprinkler systems on alternate days between
6am – 8am and 6pm – 8pm
Hand-held hosing can be used anytime
Water Alert Level 3
No use of sprinklers.
Hand-held hosing only
Water Alert Level 4
No use of outside water systemsFor more information:
Nigel Ward
Team Leader - Embracing Growth | Communication and Engagement
021 273 4997