Council reduces water restrictions for Levin and Ohau to Level 3

Water restrictions for residents of Levin and Ohau have been reduced from Level 4 to Level 3, effective from Monday 8 January.

Horowhenua District Council announced the change in the water restrictions following recent rainfall in the District.

“Water restrictions for Levin and Ohau are triggered by flows in the Ohau River. The rain helped to raise the flow of the river from less than 820 litres per second (l/s), which triggered the Level 4 restrictions, to just over 1000l/s,” said Levaai Toremana, Water Services Engineer.

“There’s still a lot of hot weather ahead this summer. We’re keeping a close eye on river flows and we ask people to look out for further status updates.”

In a statement on Monday 8 January, Council’s Chief Executive David Clapperton thanked members of the community for their support with saving water.

“Our community has responded admirably to Council’s calls to conserve water. We encourage everyone to keep up the good work,” he said.

Updates are available through Council customer service centres, website, Facebook page, and local news media.

Level Three water restrictions mean:

· Garden sprinklers and soak hoses are banned.

· Handheld hoses, watering cans or buckets may only be used on Tuesdays and Thursdays, between 7pm and 9pm.

· Hosing of paved areas is prohibited unless cleaning is required due to an accident, fire, health hazard or other emergency. The use of a bucket filled from a tap is permitted.

· Portable swimming pools must not be filled. Existing swimming pools and spas may only be topped up by handheld hoses, watering cans or buckets filled directly from taps. New swimming pools may only be filled with the written permission of the Council’s Water and Waste Services Manager.

· Water-jetting is banned. Water must not be used to clean windows, cars, boats or other vehicles except by means of a bucket or watering can filled directly from a tap.

© Scoop Media