A-Grade water for North Shore City

April 19, 2006

Supplying 72,000 North Shore City homeowners and businesses with a-grade drinking water will continue to be a major priority for North Shore City Council under its Draft City Plan 2006-2016.

The council plans to invest a further $23 million over the next 10 years in improving, expanding and maintaining the existing water supply network to meet the city's growing needs.

Deputy chairman of North Shore City's infrastructure and environment committee, Chris Darby, says the council is committed to quenching the city's thirst for high quality water and undertakes regular testing to ensure quality and firefighting standards are met.

"Clean and sufficient potable drinking water is a key element of community well-being, facilitating economic prosperity, healthy communities, environmental qualities and cultural identity," Councillor Darby says.

"We have a reputation for providing the city with a quality water supply at a reasonable price, and we're committed to continuing this excellent service."

Around $16m will be spent operating and maintaining the existing network to ensure a high quality and quantity of drinking water.

A further $7m has been allocated for capital expenditure - to renew and extend the current system to cater for future growth.

Chris Darby says the 10-year plan identifies a long-term strategy to minimise water wastage and promote the conservation of this resource to meet growing demand.

"Water supply is a natural resource and we encourage sustainability and the efficient and wise use of water - for us as a city and across the region," he says.

A number of initiatives are in place to educate the community on how to preserve and reuse water around the home.

"We encourage residents to adopt environmentally-friendly ways of using rainwater around the home and garden. This helps reduce the amount of mains water supply used by each household and improves our beach and stream water quality by reducing stormwater runoff," says Councillor Darby.

"We also offer $500 grants to help residents install a rainwater tank for two indoor uses such as laundry and toilet, and outdoor use."

ENDS

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