Water restrictions permit people to water gardens on alternate days only in Christchurch

Christchurch City Council Water Supply Improvement Programme Manager Helen Beaumont has prepared a report for Thursday’s Council meeting which recommends introducing level three water restrictions.

Water restrictions could be imposed in Christchurch to help meet the May deadline for removing chlorine from the city's water supply.

Christchurch City Council Water Supply Improvement Programme Manager Helen Beaumont has prepared a report for Thursday's Council meeting which recommends introducing level three water restrictions.

Level three water restrictions permit people to water their gardens on alternate days only, using hand-held hoses. Unattended hoses, sprinklers or garden irrigation systems cannot be used when level three restrictions are in place.

In her report, Ms Beaumont says imposing water restrictions now will help reduce demand for water and potentially allow for a larger number of wells to be made secure by May.

"If we can significantly reduce the demand for water we would be able to carry out improvement works on a larger number of wells over the next few weeks,'' Ms Beaumont says.

To date 39 of Christchurch's 140 wells have been upgraded and signed off as secure.

Based on the current work programme 90 per cent of the city's water supply will be chlorine-free by the end of May. One hundred per cent of the network will be chlorine free by October.