Taihape water treatment plant making progress towards being full

Taihape's water supply comes from the Hautapu River. Photo / Bevan Conley

The Taihape water treatment plant is making "slow gains" towards being full so that maintenance can be carried out.

On Sunday the Rangitīkei District Council urged Taihape residents to conserve water due to recent rain putting pressure on the water treatment plant.

Taihape gets its water from the Hautapu River and, when it rains, more sediment makes the water dirtier and it needs more treatment to make it into clean drinking water.

Rangitīkei District Council chief executive Peter Beggs said the irony was the recent rain meant they had to conserve water.

Beggs said Taihape residents were being asked to reduce their water usage because the reservoir must be full in order to carry out maintenance.

"Last week the reservoir was less than half full. We need it full so we can turn off the water plant, clean out all the filters then reinstate the manufacturing plant again," he said.

A council spokesperson said treatment staff had been working 24/7 to manage the issue and, when necessary, drinking water was being transported from Mangaweka to the Taihape reservoir.

"In order to resolve the issue, we are relying on the community to conserve water so that the reservoir levels can increase," they said.

"The reservoir is currently making slow gains and we thank the public for their ongoing co-operation."

The spokesperson said if people failed to reduce their water usage, restrictions would be imposed, such as a complete ban on all outside water usage.

The last conserve water notice in Taihape was placed last winter for the same reasons.

The conserve water request ran from July 28 to August 2, with no restrictions imposed.