While most New Zealanders are enjoying the hot summer days, Christchurch City Council is asking residents to be sensible with their water usage as temperatures rise.
John Mackie, Council Head of Three Waters and Waste says, “It's shaping up to be a hot summer so we need people to be sensible with the amount of water they use,''
According to Mackie, over the weekend Christchurch residents used almost half a billion litres of water - the highest level of usage since January 2009.
With a hot and dry summer on the way, Mackie is concerned about the possibility of supply issues and a drop in water pressure.
"To conserve water we are encouraging residents not to water their grass or their berms and to try to limit watering the garden to every second day,'' says Mackie.
Yesterday afternoon Napier imposed a level four water restriction with a complete ban on sprinklers and hoses for the next few days.
Napier City and Hastings District Councils say, “"We're asking our communities to lower their usage in easy, clever ways - reusing the water from rinsing fruit and veg on your garden, putting a cover on the pool, if you have one - that kind of thing. Indoors, it's about turning off the tap when brushing teeth and shorter showers."