Relief after carwash taps into council advice

The mood was relaxed at the Clean Me Carwash after Whangarei District Council officials had assured the anxious business operators the new water restrictions did not mean taps would be turned off.
Carwash manager Paul Blagrove said he and the Clean Me owner, his uncle Warwick Blagrove, were "really happy" with the way talks had gone with the council yesterday.
"It's worked out fine. We're reporting back to them with an action plan on Monday," he said.
"We've closed one of our five car-cleaning bays and we've stopped cleaning up after every customer, so we're saving a lot of water."
Paul Blagrove said the carwash used on average about 2000 litres of water daily and the saving measures would trim  that by about 20 per cent.
Council water services manager Andrew Venmore encouraged all businesses with concerns about the restrictions to contact the council and discuss their situation.
"We want to thank people for their positive response," he said.
"We are trying to avoid confusion and work with businesses reliant on water to reduce the amount they use without restricting their operation."
Tales of people giving gardens a final hosing before the water restrictions came into force at 5pm yesterday indicated city consumption could have suddenly spiked.
But Mr Venmore said it had dropped slightly.
He was reluctant to predict when the restrictions might be lifted. That depended on several factors, including the level of the Whau Valley dam, river levels and soil moisture content.
Niwa had predicted Northland rainfall would return to normal  this month but Mr Venmore said the region needed higher than normal rainfall of 150-200mm over a couple of weeks to fill aquifers, followed by consistent rainfall for several weeks.
Whangarei water restrictions could "quite possibly" remain in place until the end of May, he said.
Good rain before then will relieve coastal households and farms having to buy water because their tank or dam supplies have run low. Because the Whau Valley dam is only half full, cartage contractors who formerly filled their tankers in Okara Drive now have to use a filling point at Ruakaka, where there is plenty of water from Wilson's dam.
The council charge is the same - $1.85 for 1000 litres - but the 70km return trip from the city adds significant costs. 
Water2Go contractor "Andrew" said his $330 charge for delivering 10,000 litres to Tutukaka would probably double.
Grant Morgan, from Maungatapere Transport, said his firm's $450 former charge for delivering 14,000 litres to Parakao could increase by $200.