Ohakune on the brink of issuing boiling water notice, residents asked to conserve water

Reduced water usage across the Ohakune township is needed to avoid a boil water notice. Photo / Bevan Conley

The Ruapehu District Council is urging Ohakune locals to reduce their water usage to help avoid the need for a boil water notice.

The increased demand for water from holiday visitors combined with bad weather on the horizon is raising the possibility for a boil water notice to be issued in the coming days.

The council's infrastructure services manager, Stuart Watson, said the water treatment plant was running at capacity but with the current outflow was relying on the limited reservoir capacity to meet the holiday demand.

"Night-time demand measured between 1-5am is up by a good 10,000 litres an hour and has averaged 38,000 litres an hour over the first three nights of this week.

"This is a heck of a lot of water when most all people will be tucked up in bed asleep, which highlights the extent of the situation. Estimates are that Ohakune should only need between 10-15,000 litres per hour for normal domestic and commercial usage and we are regularly seeing flows for over twice this," he said.

Watson said keeping up with this level of demand was only possible due to the current fine weather, which means the raw water source from the Tutara (Serpentine) Stream had low turbidity (murkiness).

"Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the weekend and next week is not so good. With this level of water demand any bad weather increasing the raw water turbidity will mean we will not be able to produce enough water that meets drinking water standards requiring a boil water notice to be issued.

"To give us the best chance of avoiding a boil water we need to reduce overall water demand by around 20,000 litres per hour through a reduction in usage along with fixing any drips or leaks.

"As well as being inconvenient to everyday life boil water notices have a huge impact on the local economy. So please, let's all work together, be waterwise, and do everything we can to reduce water demand."

The council is currently offering to have a plumber fix leaks and drips on the Ohakune network at their cost to the value of $200 per job.

To take advantage of the offer, call the council on 06 385 8364 or drop-by the Ohakune office.

Watson said the council would also ask people report any leaks.