Water Efficiency Plan 2021-2025
Around 75% of our water comes from the south (30% from the Waikato River and 45% from four large storage lakes in the Hunua ranges). Some 20% of our water comes from water storage lakes in the Waitākere ranges to the west. We also have a small groundwater source in Onehunga that supplies around 5% of the city’s water.
Our sources provide water to at least 1.6 million people and thousands of businesses and organisations in Auckland. Our current annual water demand averages around 440 million litres per day. However, our peak summer demand reached a record high of 560 million litres per day over several days in February 2020, when many people on tank water outside the Auckland metropolitan area had run out of water. Our water supply network must be capable of delivering this amount of water over several days, in the height of summer.
The more summer rainfall we get, the less water the average person uses. Hot summer days drive demand to levels we have not seen before. Dry weather means that people reliant on tank water increasingly need to access Auckland’s water supply network. As our population grows and our summers get hotter and drier, we are seeing significant rises in the city’s summer demand for water. The second major aspect of this plan is to help Aucklanders moderate their consumption.
The average Auckland residential consumption compares well with other major centres in New Zealand. We have one of the lowest per capita consumption levels in the country.
We also use less water per capita in Auckland than other cities in Australasia. Watercare does not compare as favourably against some European cities, which even though their housing is more condensed (with fewer private gardens, for example), and they have significantly lower levels of network loss, still have admirably low per capita water use.
It stands to reason that the bigger Auckland gets, the more water we use. What is surprising, though, is that the nature of demand has remained proportionately stable, even though our economy grew a lot more than the total population.
The reason for this is twofold: the work we have done with key commercial customers (our top 20 customers use 12% of all of Auckland’s water) to cut down on wastage, and the water-saving initiatives industries adopted over this time.
Pokeno, Tuakau and Papakura, which receive bulk water from Watercare, face the same future as Auckland in terms of water supply. We work closely with the authorities in these areas to promote water efficiency.
The major component of non-revenue water is what we lose through leakage. Under-reading of meters and theft are relatively minor contributors, though we are working to address those. Non-revenue water used for firefighting, of course, is a community contribution we make gladly.
The average Auckland residential consumption compares well with other major centres in New Zealand. We have one of the lowest per capita consumption levels in the country.
We also use less water per capita in Auckland than other cities in Australasia. Watercare does not compare as favourably against some European cities, which even though their housing is more condensed (with fewer private gardens, for example), and they have significantly lower levels of network loss, still have admirably low per capita water use.
It stands to reason that the bigger Auckland gets, the more water we use. What is surprising, though, is that the nature of demand has remained proportionately stable, even though our economy grew a lot more than the total population.
The reason for this is twofold: the work we have done with key commercial customers (our top 20 customers use 12% of all of Auckland’s water) to cut down on wastage, and the water-saving initiatives industries adopted over this time.
Pokeno, Tuakau and Papakura, which receive bulk water from Watercare, face the same future as Auckland in terms of water supply. We work closely with the authorities in these areas to promote water efficiency.
The major component of non-revenue water is what we lose through leakage. Under-reading of meters and theft are relatively minor contributors, though we are working to address those. Non-revenue water used for firefighting, of course, is a community contribution we make gladly.
OF ALL OUR WATER
COMES FROM THE SOUTH
MILLION OF LITRES PER DAY
PEAK CONSUMPTION IN SUMMER 2020
OUR TREATMENT PLANTS ARE
STAFFED 24/7 IN SUMMER
TO COPE WITH DEMAND
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