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We know that there may be people, businesses or community groups that have special water requirements, so we’ve allowed for exemptions to be considered. Applications will be reviewed against criteria including source water and treatment capacity, prevailing weather conditions, current and predicted water demand and public health, safety or wellbeing.
You can apply for a Smart Water Plan on our website.
If you pay commercial rates for your business, you need to follow the Water Use at Work Plan (95kb pdf)
If you pay residential rates for your business, you need to need follow the Water Use at Home Plan (77kb pdf)
Try having a friendly conversation with your neighbour first, they may not be aware of the plan. If the breaches continue, please contact us on 07 577 7000.
The Water Watchers Plan applies to all use of water from the city water supply. Recycled water, bore water, and water used for testing fire systems, firefighting and related activities are exempt from the Water Watchers Plan. Water from rainwater tanks is also exempt if it is not topped up from the city’s water’s supply.
A trigger nozzle can be attached to your hose and automatically turns off when you release your hand off the trigger. This stops water being wasted when you are moving around outside with your hose.
Irrigation systems includes a dripper system or micro sprays. Typically, these are installed and can’t easily be moved around.
A sprinkler is a movable garden hose attachment primarily used for watering lawns and gardens. Types include rotary, oscillating, impact, and soaker hoses.
Watering at night reduces water loss due to evaporation and allows longer for the water to infiltrate into the ground during the cool of the night.
Yes, you can water your garden during the cooler parts of the day at per the Water Watchers at home plan using a low volume/micro irrigation system with a timer.
Micro irrigation (micro-spray, localised, low-volume, low-flow, or trickle irrigation systems) is an irrigation method with lower water pressure and flow than a traditional sprinkler system.
Micro irrigation systems usually have several components including microtubing (small diameter tubing where flow is regulated by the tubing’s length and diameter), flow drip emitters and micro-sprinklers.
There are lots of high-pressure cleaners available, but we recommend a high-pressure cleaner that uses 8 litres per minute or less.
You may fill a paddling pool up to 300 litres. For example, the blue clam shell pools that are popular with toddlers take 200 litres to fill.
No. Sprinkler use is prohibited between December and February. But you can use a handheld hose to fill a paddling pool (less than 300 litres capacity) or head to one of our local community swimming pools.
If you want to wash your house between December and February, you will need to engage the services of a house washing company that has an approved Smart Water Plan in place. Or you can save the job and complete it between March and November.
Yes, but if you are filling it between December and February you will need to apply for a Smart Water Plan.
Water loss from evaporation means the sun heats up water, turning it into vapor which is lost into the atmosphere. Evaporative water loss can be lowered by using a pool cover and watering in the evenings.
Pool covers are highly recommended all year round. This helps to keep the water from being lost during the heat of the day.
Yes, you can top your pool water up because of evaporative water loss and splashing but please do not leave the hose unattended while you’re doing this. We recommend that you install a pool cover to reduce the amount of water lost through evaporation.
We know everyone washes their car differently. We recommend using a bucket of soapy water for the washing/scrubbing and using a hose with a trigger nozzle for quickly rinsing your car at the beginning and end of the wash. Where possible, wash your car on the grass, as the grass gets watered at the same time and this doesn’t pollute our stormwater drains with soapy water. Or visit one of the car washes around Tauranga that use recycled water.
The below car washes have water recycling systems which send carwash wastewater through various holding tanks and filters to remove wax, oil and solids before processing between 65% and 95% of the water back for reuse.
You can wash your car or boat with a bucket all year round but there are restrictions on hose use between December and February. During this time handheld hoses with a trigger nozzle may only be used to rinse your car or boat before or after a bucket wash.
The New Zealand Standard that governs the quality of water present in swimming pools is NZS 5826:2000. Pools can be topped up to make sure these standards are met.
You can apply for an exemption by filling out a Smart Water Plan Application form.
Check out our Water Use in the Community Water Watchers Plan (77kb pdf).
We are reducing the number of parks that use Tauranga’s clean drinking water supply by increasing the number of bores that water our parks, helping to keep our public spaces green through summer. Bore water isn’t treated or used for the city’s drinking water supply, so doesn’t put extra pressure on the city’s water resources during peak summer demands. As of 2023, the parks watered by bores are:
Parks that don’t have bores:
No, using the city’s drinking water supply for dust suppression is not permitted at any time of year.
New gardens/lawns installed by a commercial operator can be watered on the day of planting. Depending on the location of the garden/lawn the property owner will need to follow either the Water Watchers at Home Plan (77kb pdf) or Water Watchers at Work Plan (95kb pdf).
Water is permitted to be used for producing and laying concrete but should be used efficiently. Careful selection of a curing method should be undertaken to minimise the use of water during concrete curing. Several curing methods exist as described by Concrete NZ - “Ponding” and “Wet Coverings” are both water efficient ways of water curing concrete, along with sheet and membrane curing methods. Using a sprinkler/hose to wet the curing concrete continually or repeatedly should be a last resort and requires a Smart Water Plan approved by Council.
Our water comes from three aquifer-fed streams – the Tautau, Waiorohi and Waiāri.
Whether it’s raining or the sun is shining, we need to watch our water use and follow the Water Watchers Plan.
Our streams that provide our city with water are aquifer fed and rely on regular rain to replenish these aquifers. During periods of drought or drier than normal weather these aquifers are not recharged at a rate that the city is using water – this is why we ask you to conserve water when it is hot.
When it is wet the rainfall is great for replenishing the aquifers that supply our streams. However, high rainfall stirs up dirty sediment in the streams which makes treating the water a lot harder. Under extreme rainfall conditions the treatment plants are shut down until stream quality allows treatment to continue. This is why we ask you to conserve water even when it is wet.
We ask you to mindful about your water use whatever the weather.
Building a dam to collect and hold untreated water would be a costly and timely process that would require significant cultural, environmental and community engagement. We have completed building our third water treatment plant which will provide the city with enough water for the next 30 plus years.
Building more reservoirs does not help water supply as water reservoir tanks are closed in and do not collect rainfall - reservoirs hold treated water. We have 17 reservoirs positioned throughout the city that store enough water to provide a buffer during peak water use times, or to keep the city going for 24 to 48 hours in an emergency. We all need to use water wisely to ensure the infrastructure continues to meet our city’s needs now and into the future.
We are working together with the Port of Tauranga to ensure cruise ships visiting Tauranga limit the amount of water they take. Not all cruise ships take water when berthed at the Port, however if they do take water, we have introduced a litres per person/per day limit for all cruise ships visiting Tauranga. This limit is less than what the average Tauranga resident would use each day but enough for the cruise ship to meet their water requirements.
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