"Dry summer" campaign for water kicks off

Residents of Porirua, Wellington, Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt are being asked to prepare for less water from the region’s storage lakes this summer, in a campaign that kicks off tomorrow.

One of Greater Wellington’s two Stuart Macaskill water storage lakes is now empty as part of a 2-3-year project to increase the lakes’ resistance to a major earthquake and boost capacity. The storage lakes, located at Te Marua, make up for any shortage of water from the Hutt, Wainuiomata and Orongorongo rivers, and the Lower Hutt aquifer.

“With a water storage lake out of action the water reserves for the four cities will be halved, making our summer ‘dry’ whatever the weather. But by making a few simple changes before summer, householders can make all the difference,” says Cr Nigel Wilson, Chair of Greater Wellington’s Social and Cultural Wellbeing Committee.

Outdoors, fit a flow trigger on your hose – a hose can waste 10 to 12 litres of water a minute when it’s on but not being used. And indoors, fix leaking taps, pipes and toilets – a leak can waste 100 litres a day.

Another effective way to save water is to put a 1-2 litre plastic bottle of water or sand (with the bottle lid on) in your toilet’s cistern, if you have a single-flush toilet. This will save up to 40 litres of water a day and shouldn’t affect the effectiveness of the flush.

Cr Wilson says he cannot emphasise enough that if everybody does just a bit more to save water, there’ll be a much better chance of getting through summer without tough restrictions. “And throughout summer, we’ll be using the campaign to let people know how the four cities are doing for water and encourage simple changes in water use,” he says.