Central Hamilton. Photo: 123rf
Hamilton City Council says the city's water use is climbing daily and residents are being urged to reduce water usage.
Three Waters unit director Maire Porter said the volume of water used in January had hit 80 megalitres per day, compared to a summer average of 69ml.
Porter said that Auckland Anniversary and Waitangi Day weekends historically had the highest daily water use levels of summer in Hamilton.
Residents used more water to fill pools, water their garden, wash boats and play with sprinklers when it was hot, she said.
Residents needed to appreciate that water was not an infinite resource, she said.
The city was not at a water alert yet, Three Waters head of operations and process Fiona Sutton said.
"We've been able to avoid putting and implementing water restrictions for the previous two summers. We'd like to do the same this year and that's why we're asking for people to help with being sustainable with their water use.
"We've got a lot of information about tips and water saving tips at smartwater.org.nz."
Sutton said officials understood people used water differently during the summer, "and we just want to encourage people to do that as sustainably as possible".
