Porirua City Council has brought the pre-order system for its 200-litre water tanks to an end as record demand for the items has cooled and the city moves back to Level 1 water restrictions.

The pre-order system was introduced in January after unprecedented demand meant the existing system was not viable.

Over the 2023/24 Christmas and New Year period, 102 of the 200-litre tanks were sold, compared to just 16 over the same period in the prior year.

Demand was driven after warnings from the Wellington Region Emergency Management Office late last year that the forecasted dry summer could result in tougher water restrictions for the region.

The region, including Porirua, moved to Level 2 water restrictions in January. Higher restrictions were avoided due to residents limiting their water use.

"Changing to a pre-order system meant Council could better manage the overwhelming demand for tanks at a time when residents were concerned about having an emergency supply for potential tighter restrictions," says Porirua Mayor Anita Baker.

"In order to make it happen, our Customer Services team worked together with staff at Te Rauparaha Arena and our Health and Safety and Emergency Management team in order to allow a smooth experience from ordering the tanks to picking them up once they were available."

In the three months the system was active, Council sold 460 tanks to people from across Porirua, as well as some Wellington and Hutt Valley residents.

Mayor Baker reminds residents that there are many reasons water shortages or outages could occur, such as natural disasters, dry conditions or burst pipes, and people should be prepared for them. Households should ideally store a minimum of 20 litres for each person to use in an emergency.

"Three litres per day is the minimum you need for drinking and food preparation."

In the meantime, Wellington Water continues to work with Porirua City Council to fix leaks across the water network.

Anyone requiring a 200-litre water tank can now purchase them directly from Council’s Customer Service Centre at 16 Cobham Court during office hours.

Smaller 10-litre plastic water containers can also be purchased for $5 each from the same location.

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