Timaru City Level 1 Water Restrictions Effective Now

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Published: 05 Jan 2022

The Timaru Urban Water Supply is now under Level 1 Water Restrictions to help resolve the discolouration issue.

Every resident in Timaru City is being asked to reduce unnecessary outdoor water usage and stop watering lawns immediately.

This is being put in place so that the council can stop taking water from its secondary source at the Opihi, the current cause of the harmless discolouration of the city water supply, while still ensuring we meet essential needs.

Drainage and Water Manager Grant Hall said that the treatment method is causing the harmless algae present at the Opihi intake to change the colour of the water as it is killed by the treatment process.

“All our water safety tests to date and those from independent testing laboratories show that the water is safe to drink and we’re continuing to do extra water sampling until this situation is resolved.

“This issue is new and unprecedented, staff who have worked on this network for decades have never seen this happen before so we are taking it very seriously.

“We are investigating a number of additional pre-and-post treatment options to improve water colour and consulting water treatment specialists.

“We are drawing water from the Pareora source to dilute the water from Opihi which is causing the discolouration, but we can’t supply peak summer water usage from this single supply so we need everyone to reduce outdoor water usage immediately.

“We understand that concerns about how long this is taking to resolve and we appreciate our community’s ongoing patience as we work hard to remedy this issue.”

Tanker Locations

We have organised water tankers for those who would like an alternative drinking water source. These are at:

  • Domain Avenue (outside the Botanic Gardens) Moved from Sir Basil Arthur Park
  • Caroline Bay
  • Aorangi Park

Level 1 Water Restrictions

  • Daily demands are being closely monitored.
  • There is a requirement to minimise water usage.
  • No watering of lawns is permitted.

Last updated: 17 Jan 2022