Things are generally looking pretty good on the water supply front in Arrowtown, with Queenstown Lakes District Council telling us that water restrictions are not on the cards for Arrowtown at the moment.
The weather – cooler and wetter than last year – has made a huge difference, as has good water management by residents.
Another big help has been the commissioning just before Christmas of one of the two new bores in Bush Creek. The existing bore system did not have adequate redundancy, and during dry weather/peak demand times the system struggled to produce enough water to keep up with demand. The new bores will allow a greater of volume of water to be extracted, and also provide for better redundancy in the event of mechanical failure.
This is all great news for Arrowtown, but please be aware it isn’t licence to leave your sprinklers running all day. Demand management is still essential to ensuring that our infrastructure is suitable into the future. Extracting and treating water costs money, and responsible usage will help to ensure QLDC can invest where most appropriate. So please continue your efforts to use water wisely:
- Water gardens by hand rather than setting a sprinkler.
- Use a simple timer for your sprinkler. Water your lawn for an hour between midnight and 6.00am, when demand on the water supply is low.
- Check the arc of your sprinkler and make sure you’re watering the garden or lawn, not the path and driveway.
- Wash dishes and clothes when you have a full load.
- Take shorter showers: shaving a minute from your daily shower can save up to 18 litres. Most mains-pressure showers use 9 to 18 litres of water every minute, so more than five minutes in the shower could be using more water than you’d need for a bath.
- Check for and fix leaks: A leaking toilet may not be obvious, but it can waste thousands of litres of water in a year