Water restrictions eased: Aucklanders now using too much of the resource

It seems Aucklanders were just waiting for the go-ahead to water the garden or wash the car again, after months of restrictions.

But people are now being urged to remember that despite the restrictions being eased, the city is still facing a water crisis and it should therefore still be used sparingly.

Although the city's seven-day rolling average water consumption remains within the allowed target, the daily consumption figures in the past two days show residents are now using too much water.

Watercare's latest figures show the city's water consumption reached 442 million litres yesterday - using 5 million litres above the 437 million litres (or less) a day target for this month.

It's important to save water this summer

Yesterday's information showed that on Monday, the day restrictions were officially eased back, water consumption reached 456 million litres - 19 million litres over the daily target.

A Watercare spokeswoman said they had expected the consumption levels to rise after restrictions were eased, as people started to "catch up" on tasks they could not do before - like washing the family car.

Aucklanders are reminded that despite restrictions being eased, we are still in a water crisis. Photo / Duncan Brown

But it is also a chance to remind and encourage the Auckland public that we are still in a water crisis.

"Since water restrictions eased on Monday to allow the hand-held hoses and water blasters fitted with trigger nozzles, we have noticed an increase in water use.

"It's important that people continue to save water this summer," she said.

"Aucklanders have done an outstanding job of reducing demand this year and with a hot summer ahead, we encourage them to keep up the good work and preserve this precious resource."

Last month, the Auckland Council voted to adjust mandatory water restrictions.

Since Monday, residents in the city have once again been allowed to use hand-held hoses with trigger nozzles over the summer.

Sprinklers and residential irrigation systems are, however, still banned across the city.

The dam storage recorded this morning stands at 71.73 per cent. Normally for this time of year, that would be almost 90 per cent.

Meanwhile, Hamilton and Waipā will move to a Water Alert Level One situation from tomorrow.

Sprinklers in those areas will only be allowed to be used between 6am to 8am and 6pm to 8pm daily. Residents will still be allowed to use a hand-held hose at any time.