City's water supplies withstand demand

They may be doing it tough in other parts of the country, but there's no problem with water supplies for Wanganui city in spite of daily draw-off reaching near record levels.

Mark Hughes, Wanganui District Council infrastructure manager, told the Chronicle the draw-off had been peaking at 36 million litres a day as the long, hot summer weather continued.

"Last year the peak was about 29-30 million litres a day," he said.

He said the supply position had improved because over the past two years council had successfully implemented information and management systems to allow better monitoring, control and forecasting of demand.

"For several years the council has had a year-round ban on the use of automated sprinkler devices outside the hours of 7-9pm. However, this year we're not intending to enforce this restriction and will allow automated sprinkler use at any time.

"This will allow us to better manage the network by avoiding demand peaks and maintaining steady flows," he said.

But Mr Hughes said council was still encouraging people not to waste water and to ensure any leaks on their property were fixed and to report any leaks from the public system.

Mayor Annette Main said the council's prudent management of the water supply was paying off.

"It's pleasing that our careful spending on infrastructure for water supply has meant we don't face the same issues as other areas in terms of supply," Ms Main said.

Meantime the MetService says the fine weather is expected to continue into early next week at least, as another large high moves in over the country.