Water restrictions for Western Bay

The Western Bay of Plenty District Council has announced today that water restrictions will be imposed across urban and rural areas of its reticulated water supply until Monday 1 April.

Areas include Waihi Beach, Katikati, Omokoroa, Te Puna, Te Puke, Maketu, Pukehina and Paengaroa.

Kelvin Hill, Council's Utilities Manager, said the restrictions involve a total ban on the use of irrigation and garden watering equipment between the hours of 6.00am to 9.00pm, typically the highest demand period, and the introduction of an 'odds' and 'evens' approach for irrigation at night between the hours of 9.00pm and 6.00am.

This means that properties with an 'odd' number address, for example 3, 5, 49 etc can irrigate on 'odd' days of the month, for example 7, 9, 21 March etc.

For properties with an 'even' street address, irrigation can occur on 'even' days of the month.

While the 'odds' and 'evens' approach does allow customers to irrigate between 9.00pm and 6.00am every second day only, mr Hill says the Council is emphasising it's still important to limit night-time irrigation to help conserve water.

"We'll continue to closely monitoring reservoir levels however if the dry weather continues, as predicted by NIWA, and reservoir levels have not reached required levels to meet regular demand by the 18^th of March we may have to consider extending the restrictions beyond the end of the month."

As a result of higher demand being placed on reticulation, some customers in outer lying areas of the District and those with elevated properties could experience low water pressure.

"By bringing in restrictions now and substantially reducing demand on existing capacity we are aiming to reduce the need for future restrictions."

Customers who require further information are encouraged to contact the Council's customer services team on 571 8008.