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Council asks for help to conserve water

Record high water use means the pumps drawing water from the aquifer into reservoirs feeding Hastings, Havelock North and Flaxmere cannot keep up with demand.

The situation is critical and a sprinkler ban is in force from today.

“There is not a shortage of water – there is plenty of water in the aquifer. The issue is that we have used an extremely large amount of water in the last week, and the pumps cannot go fast enough to keep up with demand. They are at capacity,” said Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule.

He said that the Brookvale bores being closed was contributing to the issue. “We are working hard to get one more bore open by Christmas which will ease the situation, but in the meantime we need everyone to pull together on this. We really need to help each other.”

Without urgent water saving efforts, within days the system may not be able to get water to all homes across the Hastings, Havelock North and Flaxmere network.

The ‘stage 3’ sprinkler ban status means outdoor discretionary use is banned: That means no sprinklers, no car washing, no pool filling. Hand held hoses can be used on gardens between 6am and 8am in the morning and 7pm and 9pm in the evening.

Council is ceasing to water roundabout and public gardens with the sprinklers being turned off today. The only exceptions will be the hanging baskets in the city centre, which will receive a small amount of water each night, and the batting blocks on cricket pitches which, for health and safety reasons, have to be watered.

Council is also increasing the focus of our contractors on rapidly fixing leaks in the network and more resources are being brought in to deal with this, said Mr Yule.

Facilities that have their own bores and therefore are able to continue water use include Splash Planet (for irrigation), some Hastings schools, the racecourse and Hawke’s Bay Regional Sports Park.

For further information see: http://www.hastingsdc.govt.nz/water-conservation

4 October 2017

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