With periods of bad weather forecast over the school holidays Council is calling on people to be mindful of their water usage to help avoid the potential for boil water notices.
Acting Environmental Manager, Stuart Watson, said that increased school holiday demand for water combining with bad weather could see boil water notices being issued if demand for water outstripped supply in our holiday townships.
"When heavy rain stirs up our raw water sources we are sometimes unable to produce enough water that meets drinking water standards requiring a boil water notice to be issued.
This issue is particularly pronounced in Ohakune where we suffer from significant unidentified water losses from the reticulated network and have limited reservoir capacity.
To give us the best chance of avoiding a boil water in Ohakune we need to reduce overall water demand by around 20,000 litres per hour."
Mr Watson added that Council would also ask that people report any leaks that they are aware of as the porous volcanic soils around Ohakune mean that the water flows away underground making them very hard to spot.
"We are also continuing our ‘free plumber offer’ to have leaks and drips fixed on the Ohakune network to the value of $200 per job.
If you have a leak or a drip and want to take advantage of the offer just call Council on 06 385 8364 or drop-by the Ohakune office,” he said.
"Council is undertaking significant investment in upgrading water infrastructure around the district to improve the resilience of our drinking water supply.
In Ohakune this includes working with our water contractor Veolia to identify where water losses are occurring in addition to upgrading the water treatment plant.
Despite this work however, we will never have an unlimited supply of water and we all need to remain water-wise and mindful of our water use.
As well as being inconvenient to everyday life boil water notices have a huge impact on the local economy.
So please, let’s all work together, be water-wise, and do everything we can to reduce water demand,” he said.
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