Water Conservation Tips

When it comes to conserving water, every drop counts - a dripping tap can waste up to 90 litres of water a day.

Here are some easy things you can do to help conserve our water:

• turn taps off while you shave, and brush your teeth
• run your dishwasher only when it's full
• turn your taps off properly and repair dripping taps
• store drinking water in the fridge instead of running the tap cold.

Council Water Conservation Efforts

The Council is serious about saving water and does this through:

• watering our grounds and gardens responsibly
• monitoring water consumption and water restriction compliance throughout the city
• running a public education campaign on water conservation and water restrictions
• installing water efficient devices on social housing units as part of the housing upgrade project.

Water Conservation & Efficiency Plan

The Council has a Water Conservation and Efficiency Plan which outlines our aims of:

• promoting water efficiency options to homes, businesses and communities
• establishing a water supply bylaw
• analysing and publicising Wellington's water use figures
• developing initiatives to make water-efficient technologies and practices more attractive to retailers and service providers
• looking at options for introducing water conservation initiatives
• discussing with the top 25 commercial water users ways to make their operations more water efficient
• looking at the ongoing cost / benefit analysis of finding and fixing water leaks.

Water Conservation and Efficiency Plan

Plugging Leaks

Council employees respond to about 12,000 calls annually to fix leaks and other water problems.

If you see water leaking from a hydrant, a toby (your main water shut off valve) or anywhere else, contact our 24/7 Customer Contact Centre on (04) 499 4444.

Watering Your Garden

Wellington’s highest water use happens in summer when more water is used outside, particularly on gardens.

During summer, if every Wellington household turned on a garden hose for one hour a day 70 million extra litres of water would be used - almost double Wellington's daily winter use.

Wellington has year-round restrictions on sprinklers and garden hoses. More stringent restrictions may apply during summer months.

Wellington Water Restrictions

The Council promotes watering during cooler times of the day, and allows plenty of opportunity to keep plants well-watered.

The following tips will help make Wellington’s water go further:

• Check soil moisture - if your soil is moist 10 centimetres below the surface you don't need to water.
• Water in cool settled weather - water your garden on calmer days, in the cool of early morning or in the evening.
• Aim low and slow - water close to the ground at a rate the soil can absorb.
• Using a sprinkler - established plants should only need 30 minutes watering once or twice a week in dry weather.
• Use mulch - mulch protects your soil from the drying effects of wind and sun, and can cut evaporation by 70 percent.

Saving Water in the Garden (151Kb PDF)

Related Links

• Be the Difference - Greater Wellington Regional Council website
• News Release - 20.12.10
• Wellington Water Charter (229Kb PDF) | Text version (455Kb Doc)

Department Details:
Capacity Infrastructure Ltd