Two-month wait for Auckland water tank users as dry weather increases demand

Saturday, 1 February 2020

Desperate water tank users in Auckland have to wait at least a month to replenish their tanks as the demand for water increases in parts of the region.

At least 20,000 Aucklanders living in west, norwest and northern parts of Auckland are affected as the lack of decent rainfall in the recent weeks has seen tanks dry up.

MetService is predicting the dry weather will continue over the next seven days.

Water companies say they are stretched as they try to meet the demand and most have been working late into the night delivering water to customers.

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One water company was calling the water shortage a 'public health issue' as they're forced to putting people on waiting lists.

There is up to a three week to a two month wait for water tanks to be replenished.

Helensville resident Norma Smith said she has to wait till March for water to be delivered.

'It's the first time we've needed water in three years,' Smith said.

'Last summer we had heaps of rain and on Christmas, and it filled up our tanks. We have three tanks and we are nearly all out now.'

Aucklanders are being advised to use water wisely as dry weather continues in the region.

Another resident said they called more than 15 water companies but all were booked out and had a very long waiting list.

'It's pretty dire, we are desperate for water.'

People were taking to social media to share what water they had and some were even opening their homes with offers of a place to shower.

Water cartage companies say they've had to put customers on waiting lists as demand for water increases (file image).

Coastal Water Supply owner Charlotte Thompson said they get at least 200 calls a day from people needing water.

Water cartage companies rely on Watercare's bulk supply stations at 11 at north and nor-west locations, while some fill up at private bores.

On Friday, two water filling stations in Wellsford and Warkworth were closed which only put more pressure on water companies as they looked elsewhere for supply.

'At the moment we have a three to four week waiting period for customers, and we treat each case by necessity,' Thompson said.

'We're trying to do our best for the community but we're struggling to keep up. Most people are quite understanding as water tank users usually are. This is a public health issue, people are without water for a longer period of time.'

In January, Watercare recorded an average daily use of 2.5m litres of water from nine tanker filling stations.

The station in Karepiro in Whangaparaoa recorded the most usage of 600,000 litres of water for that period.

'We would advise residents with rain tanks to check their levels regularly and book top-ups in advance,' Watercare spokeswoman Maxine Clayton said.

'We are noticing very high levels of water use at the moment.'

There was a record-breaking demand for water on Friday with Aucklanders using 538 million litres of water, three million litres more than the previous record set last February.

Clayton said the Hūnua and Waitākere ranges – where Watercare has nine water storage dams – received 34 per cent and 44 per cent less rainfall than normal for the January to June period.

Aucklanders are being encouraged to use water wisely over winter, in case the dry weather continued.