Level three water restrictions will be introduced across Christchurch to help keep water use down while critical work is done to upgrade the city’s well heads.

Christchurch City Council has agreed to introduce the restrictions after receiving advice from Water Supply Improvement Programme Manager Helen Beaumont that it will help the Council meet its May deadline for removing chlorine from the city’s water supply.

Water restrictions
Water restrictions will come into effect next week.

The restrictions will apply from Monday 4 March until Friday 31 May 2019.

During that time, people will be allowed to water their lawns and gardens on alternate days only, using hand-held hoses. Unattended hoses, sprinklers or garden irrigation systems cannot be used.

If you live in an odd-numbered property, you will be able to water your garden on odd dates (1st, 3rd, 5th etc) of the month.

If you live in an even-numbered property, you can water your garden on even dates (2nd, 4th, 6th etc) of the month.

“We are determined to get chlorine out of our water supply as soon as possible but the speed at which we can carry out the upgrades to our wells is limited by our need to meet people’s demand for water,” Deputy Mayor Andrew Turner says.

“If we can reduce demand for water, then we can take more wells out of service and do the work that is necessary to bring them up to a secure standard so they no longer require chlorine disinfection.

“Putting in water restrictions for three months will enable us to carry out improvement works on a larger number of wells and will bring us closer to our goal of a chlorine-free water supply,” Cr Turner says.

© Scoop Media