News release

Are you odd or even? Summer watering restrictions in place

Daylight savings starts this weekend and that means watering restrictions are now active in Lower Hutt, Porirua, and Wellington. The three cities join Upper Hutt, where there are year-round restrictions in place.

Andrew Samuel, Marketing Team Leader for Wellington Water, says switching your clock forward an hour this Sunday (28 September) should also serve as a reminder for gardeners that there are a few “must do’s” for summer watering.

“As the weather starts to improve we see demand on water increasing as people get out and water their gardens. These restrictions help to manage that demand and promote watering at cooler times of the day. If everyone waters wisely now we hope to avoid water shortages over the summer months.”

Restrictions mean that in Lower Hutt, Porirua and Wellington people can use either an automatic watering device or a fixed hose on alternate days between the hours of 6am and 8am, and 7pm and 9pm as follows:

- even numbered houses watering on even days of the month

- odd numbered houses watering on odd days of the month

In Upper Hutt restrictions operate year round and mean that even numbered houses can water on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays while odd numbered houses are limited to Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Mr Samuel says water restrictions are just one part of the water conservation puzzle.

“There are lots of other things people can do to use water wisely in the garden like using a trigger nozzle on their hose, mulching gardens to retain moisture longer and timing 30-minute watering sessions with their sprinkler or irrigation systems.”

Tips on conserving water at home can be found at www.wellingtonwater.co.nz.

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