Water restriction alert levels

There's less water demand in the morning than at peak times during the day and early evening. Also people may forget to turn the sprinkler off at night.

Please conserve water by using a bucket to wash, and only the hose to rinse off. Wash your car on the grass, then it waters the lawn too.

Please conserve water - keep watering to a minimum, longer than 30 minutes is excessive. Avoid watering the garden during the heat of the day.

Please conserve water - keep it to a minimum. Also put a cover on the pool to stop the water evaporating.

Absolutely. Any automatic sprinkler system on parks, sport grounds and gardens (that don’t use bore water like the Botanical Gardens) are either changed to the time restriction or turned off.
We may water some gardens by hand with a mobile water sprayer. In some cases, there may be a need for essential watering for newly sown turf etc, but we'll keep watering to a minimum.

If rain's falling that means we see big decreases in water demand due to people not using water outside.

If the Mangapoike dam levels are low, we need a lot of rain in the Waingake catchment to top the dams up. Sometimes we don’t get enough rainfall in that area until the end of winter.

Water restrictions may remain in place during periods of rain in summer if we know there’s still a high demand coming up.

Gisborne has a secondary water treatment plant that draws water from the Waipaoa River. It's essentially a 'back up' supply that's turned on when the dams reach a minimum limit. The plant's prepared in time before it’s needed, but because river water needs more treatment than the Waingake supply, it’s more expensive to run.

Water used for irrigation by farmers, growers and even Council, doesn’t come from the city's drinking water supply.

These water users have permits to take a set amount of water from water sources such as streams, rivers or aquifers. In the Freshwater Plan there's rules that restrict water takes from these sources if the amount of water in them gets too low. These rules make sure that everyone who's taking water uses it responsibly and wisely.

Let your lawns go brown in summer. Gardens are ok to be watered, as long as you keep to the water alert level restrictions.

If you're concerned about water wastage or see a water leak, let us know so we can check it out.  Contact us anytime or fill in our online request form.

Rinse and peel vegetables in a bowl or sink half-filled with water, instead of under a running the tap - saves 10 litres per minute.

Wait until you have a full load before starting your dishwasher, use the eco-setting - saves 125 litres for each wash.

Only run the waste disposal unit when it's full - saves 10 litres per minute

Rinse dishes in a sink filled with water, rather than under a running tap - saves 20 litres

Keep a jug of drinking water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap water until its cold - saves up to 2 litres per glass

When boiling vegetables, use just enough water to cover them and use a tight fitting pot lid - better still, use the microwave.

Water only what your plants need, over-watering or inefficient irrigation systems just waste water

If your irrigation system is on automatic timer - turn it off.

Avoid watering the garden during the heat of the day.

Plant smart - plant different varieties of hardy, drought resistant plants, especially on steep slopes where there's a lot of runoff. Succulents, cacti and desert plants are easy care and provide interesting shapes and textures for your garden.

Mulch or compost your flowerbeds. Organic material on the soil will help trap-in moisture, prevent weeds and provide important nutrients to your plants.

Mow your lawns on the highest setting - let your grass grow a bit longer. This lets the roots grow deeper and adds surface area to the grass blades so they hold more water and don't need irrigating as much.

Put a bucket in the shower to catch the water. Use it to water pot plants. You'll be surprised how much water you'll collect.

Sweep - don't hose.  Sweep paths and driveways rather than hosing them down.

Cover your pool to reduce evaporation.

Use a bucket to wash your boat, bike etc - only use the hose to rinse off.

Wash your car, boat, bike on the grass and water your lawn at the same time.

• No sprinkler systems at all.
• Keep hand-held hosing to a minimum - but don't waste water.

See questions and answers about water use during restrictions

Check our water saving tips in the garden and outdoor use

• Outdoor water restrictions
• Residential - total outdoor water ban
• Industrial - essential outdoor water use only

• Total outdoor water ban at all times