Conserve water now

Thames-Coromandel people encouraged to use water smarter.

Water restrictions are in place for two peninsula communities at the official start to summer.

A sprinkler and irrigation ban is in force at Matatoki and Matarangi but Thames-Coromandel District Council is encouraging all residents and visitors to conserve water.

TCDC Operations Manager Greg Hampton says last summer’s drought was a strong reminder to the Waikato community that we cannot take the region’s freshwater resources for granted with the influx of holidaymakers to the district meaning water sources will be stretched.

The council has teamed up with eight local authorities and regional council Environment Waikato (EW) to launch its Smart Water Use campaign, offering tips and advice to help people do the right thing.

Among the most recent initiatives was a smart water use in gardening workshop held for landscapers, garden centres and council staff and contractors to help them promote garden design and plants suited to coastal conditions.

Mr Hampton says TCDC is limited to the amount of water it can take from streams and bores every day and other factors such as the cost of storage and the treatment capacity of plants always makes supplying water a challenge at peak holiday periods.

“At the peak holiday times even heavy rainfall doesn’t help because it stirs up the water source and our water treatment plants aren’t able to process quickly enough to meet the high demand at that time of the year,” he says. “There are many factors that limit the amount of water we can use and that includes resource consent limits by EW, the treatment capacity of plants and the cost of building storage for this short period of time.

“There are lots of simple things people can do at home that will make a big difference to their water consumption and their wallets,” he said.

“For example fixing that dripping hot-water tap and you’ll save yourself $50-$60 a year. Or reduce your daily shower from eight to four minutes and you’ll shave at least $80 a year off your household power bill for every person showering – that means a household of four could save more than $300 a year.

“This is something particularly useful to bear in mind for those holidaying at beach baches this summer in areas where water resources are already stretched.”

The Smart Water Use campaign includes an online calculator to help people estimate water use in their homes and a simple tool to help residents identify where they can install simple, inexpensive water-saving devices on taps, toilets and showers to save water, power and money.

There are plans to offer Smart Water Use in the Garden workshops at participating garden centres around the region from late January.

The Smart Water Use campaign will run through to autumn. For more information please visit www.smartwateruse.co.nz.

 

Sidebar story:

Workshops help to spread Smart Water Use messages

More than 40 people from Hamilton, Cambridge, Te Awamutu, Taupo and Thames-Coromandel took part in training sessions for landscapers, garden centre staff and council employees, ahead of the Smart Water Use campaign launch.

The course, held at the Hamilton Gardens, was for those who will be helping to spread Smart Water Use messages. It covered how to conserve water in the garden by choosing the right plants and using mulch, irrigation systems and smart garden design.

One attendee, Lyn Pickering from Palmers Garden Centre in Hamilton, said her customers were more interested in making smart plant choices after last summer’s drought.

“At this time of year they’re uncertain about planting and whether their plants will survive,” she said.

“We’re really pushing that mulch message. We’re getting feedback from customers that people who mulched had gardens that survived the drought, and people who didn’t had problems.”