Easy does it: We're encouraging Aucklanders to be waterwise this summer

We are marking the start of summer with a gentle reminder that when it comes to using water, ‘easy does it’.

Head of water Sharon Danks says Tāmaki Makaurau’s water supply is in a strong position for the start of summer.

“Our total dam storage level is currently 85.2 per cent – which is about four percentage points off the historical average for this time of year. It’s where we expected to be after a winter where our catchments received about three quarters of the normal rainfall.

“As the temperature goes up though, so too does Auckland’s water consumption – sometimes it can spike by up to 100 million litres on a hot, dry day compared to average usage, and it’s pretty safe to assume most of that is being used outdoors.

“This can put pressure on our treatment plants and networks, so we’ll be encouraging our customers to go easy with their water use this summer.

“What we’re hoping to avoid is a repeat of February 2020, when we saw record water consumption with the rolling seven-day-average topping 549 million litres per day.

“To put that in perspective, average summer consumption is 452 million litres per day.”

Danks says Watercare keeps a close eye on dam levels, river flows, water usage and the weather outlook when managing Auckland’s various water sources.

“We’ll be sharing this information on our website and on social media – so look out for our ‘Easy does it’ campaign over the next few months.

“We don’t want to be breaking any more records this summer, so we’ll be popping up with advice on how you can be mindful of your water use around home.

“Being waterwise is important, because it’s a precious resource that should be looked after. But it’s also in everyone’s best interests, because we need to ensure our infrastructure can meet peak summer demand – if we can keep that peak down, we can defer costly infrastructure upgrades and save on interest costs.”

While weather forecasters are predicting near normal summer rainfall overall, there’s a likelihood of lengthy dry spells broken up by heavy rain events.

Tāmaki Makaurau is fortunate to have a resilient water supply with diverse sources, which include the Waikato River.

“With our two Waikato water treatment plants, we can treat up to 225 million litres of water from the Waikato River every day, if we need to. Right now, the second plant isn’t operational as we have a good amount of water in our dams and don’t need to be maximising production from the Waikato. But it certainly provides a good safety net if the weather does turn out to be drier than expected.

“We’re also working to bring our Pukekohe Water Treatment Plant back online after it was flooded in the 2023 summer storms. It will provide up to six million litres a day to the Pukekohe area, which eases demand on the wider metropolitan water network that serves Auckland.”

Finding and fixing leaks

Crews will be working tirelessly to find and fix leaks in the network.

“Right now, we’re on top of leaks, with only 105 reported leaks outstanding – and these are minor leaks with low volumes as the large leaks have been repaired. Our maintenance teams have been taking their holidays pre-Christmas so we can have all hands on deck over summer, when the number of leaks generally goes up because the ground can dry up and retract from our pipes, causing cracks.

“We’ll have our proactive leak detection programme running too, which is particularly useful at finding leaks that aren’t easily visible. Over the past year our leak management programme has saved seven million litres of water per day – that's the equivalent of water used by more than 27,000 people.

“We also rely on our customers to help us to reduce water wastage by reporting leaks. So if you see what you think is a leak when you’re out and about, please report it on our website watercare.co.nz.”

Top tips for going easy with your water use this summer:

• Keep your showers short – four minutes or less should be plenty. If you’re a twice-a-day showerer on those scorching days, keep them to two minutes each.

• Cool off the kids with water pistols, reusable water balloons or even a small paddling pool, instead of under the sprinkler.

• Attach a trigger nozzle to your garden hose, to reduce wastage when watering.

• Water your garden early in the morning or at dusk to reduce evaporation.

• Check your home for leaks.