Local Focus: Tauranga sprinkler ban a pain for 4-year-old Rylan

With temperatures at a record high, surviving the summer heat requires some ingenuity.

Rylan Pickett, 4, keeps cool by using his sprinkler, given to him as a Christmas present from Santa.

"Being at The Lakes, we are a lot further away from the beach. So, we tend to put the sprinkler on and let this guy have a wee run around. It's been a bit hard not being allowed to," mum Erin Pickett says.

But his fun and games have come to an end after Tauranga City Council imposed a sprinkler ban following high water usage combined with dry weather conditions.

The family live in Pyes Pa. With no community pool and the nearest beach 30 minutes' drive away, turning on the sprinkler has been a saviour.

"There's nowhere locally in this area that we can go to cool down," Pickett said.

But now they're looking at other options.

"Cold bath and lots of ice blocks."

The Bay of Plenty has already been identified as one of the "stand out" hotspots in the country and there's next to no rainfall on the horizon.

"Tauranga city is growing year by year in terms of population, and so there's a corresponding increase in the water demand. But it's also very dependent on the level of rainfall," Deputy Mayor Kelvin Clout said.

The council says although the public response has been good, some residents still don't know about the ban.

"The council have had 22 phone calls from people who are saying their neighbours have been flouting the sprinkler ban. A lot of people have just been unaware the sprinkler ban is in place and once they've been made aware, they're happy to comply."

The council was not sure when the sprinkler ban will end.

It plans to install a third water treatment station by 2021 which will help meet the city's growing water demand.

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