Due to storm damage water supplies at Paihia are now at serious risk and officials are urging water conservation.
The Far North District Council has issued an urgent call to all residents and visitor accommodation premises in the Paihia, Haruru Falls and Opua areas to conserve water until further notice.
Heavy siltation at the Waitangi River water supply intake has seriously restricted the treatment plant's capacity to process water and the reservoirs servicing the area are running low.
Contractors are working to restore the treatment plant to full capacity but unless the communities in the area do everything possible to conserve water the supply could fail by mid afternoon.
To conserve dwindling supplies for as long as possible, all water users in the area are being urged to keep their water use to absolute essentials and avoid the use of hoses for any purpose.
Water tankers have been placed on standby to bring treated water in from other areas as a contingency measure. However the tanker supplies will not be able to meet the normal level of demand.
The restrictions on water use will remain in place until further notice.
