Council is offering to fix small leaks and drips for people on Ohakune's drinking water network in an effort to help stem the loss of some 720,000 litres (720m3 cubic meters) of water that typically goes missing every day.

Environmental Manager Stuart Watson said that the offer which provides for up to $200 of plumbing work per household or business is part of a campaign targeting the unusually high water loss from Ohakune's reticulated network.

"The plumbing offer is part of a larger leak reduction program Council is undertaking with our water contractor Veolia to build resilience into the drinking water network.

Along with network repairs and upgrades this has included steps to collect better data and working with commercial users to locate and fix leaks.

As it will be the combination of lots of individual measures that will make the big difference to stemming water losses Ohakune households and businesses have a critically important role to play.

By paying for up to $200 of plumbing work we hope to remove any financial barriers people may have to fixing their dripping taps and showerheads, leaky toilets and pipes," he said.

Mr Watson said that measurements taken in the dead of night when overall demand is minimal and stable show an excess water flow of 25,000 to 38,000 litres per hour (25m3/hour - 38m3/hour) with a typical night being 30,000 litres (30m3/hour) or 720,000 litres per day (720m3).

"This is equivalent to emptying out and then refilling the main Ohakune swimming pool two and a half times every single day.

Limiting this excess water loss will be critical to Ohakune if we are going to manage future demand needs and avoid the disruption caused by such things as precautionary boil water notices.

Over the two previous mid-winter school holidays we have needed to issue precautionary boil water notices as our ability to supply water that meets drinking water standards has outstripped supply.

This is a particular issue when output is reduced due to poor raw water quality (turbidity) during high rainfall events.

If we can save on 20,000 litres/hour (20m3) and stem the losses through leakage to around 10,000 litres per hour (10m3) it will deliver significant benefits including helping to avoid boil water notices, keeping within our water take resource consent limits, and providing the capacity for the Ohakune Water Treatment Plant to service growth in much needed new housing developments.

Mr Watson added that in addition to fixing leaks and drips we are also calling on Ohakune water users to be 'water wise' and help save water wherever they can.

“Saving water does not need to be a major undertaking or impact significantly on your way of life.

There are lots of simple water saving tips on our website or people can look on-line where they will find heaps of easy to do ideas,” he said.

“To take advantage of the $200 plumbing offer all people need to do is call Council or drop-by the Ohakune office.

The total budget for the plumbing offer is capped at $20,000 or 100 jobs on a first come, first served basis, so we encourage people to hunt out those leaks and drips and give us a call,” he said.

© Scoop Media