Watercare urges Aucklanders to conserve water

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#2269753 4-Jul-2019 11:06

ShiroHagen:

Similarly with dishes - hot soapy water in the sink. Maybe rinse off the suds if you believe they are carcinogenic. But if you washed them under a running tap, the detergent would go right down the sink so you'd have to keep refreshing it. I dunno maybe I'm overthinking this.

I often wash our dishes under running water. There's only 2 of us so often dinner dishes consist of 2 plates, 2 forks and 2 knives. I have one of those dish wand things that has detergent in the handle so it dispenses the detergent as you're using it to scrub the dishes. I haven't actually tested to see if this uses less water than filling the sink and washing the dishes, but I'd be surprised if it uses more.

pctek

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#2269833 4-Jul-2019 12:46

ShiroHagen:

So Aucklanders are being asked to save water,

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12245726

Funny that as I thought the Waikato was sufficiently supplying our needs

No.

In fact the Waikato only feeds a small part of Auckland. Mots of it comes from the dams, Waitakere for instance and South.

Auckland’s three main water sources are:

storage dams in the Hūnua and Waitākere ranges
an aquifer in Onehunga
the Waikato River.

tripper1000

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#2269862 4-Jul-2019 13:13

This should not be a surprise to anyone with 1/2 a brain.

We've grown Auckland's population by approx 50% over the last 25 years and not made the corresponding 50% increases in water, electricity, sewage, roading and other infrastructure. Standby for more associated problems.

We've not made a matching increase in the supply of greenfields land for housing, and so it should be no surprise either that land prices (aka housing prices) are very high.

Benoire

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#2269894 4-Jul-2019 13:33

And to add to Tripper1000 comments, our operating budgets for maintenance in the transport space are only growing around 0.5% per annum but our capital and greenfield expenditure is huge... We're going to have asset problems in to the future across all critical infrastructure in my humble opinion.

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#2269902 4-Jul-2019 13:59

blackjack17: We discussed this in one of my classes today. Teenage girls commonly take half hour to hour showers daily apparently. Please note this is not a regular cohort of students (private school)

Possibly proportionate to hair length for any gender.

Journeyman

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#2269914 4-Jul-2019 14:20

blackjack17:

Journeyman:

I'm flushing my toilet twice each time I use it now, to make up for people not flushing theirs as much 🤡

What a silly thing to say

Just for that, I'm having an extra long shower today.

networkn

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#2269916 4-Jul-2019 14:22

LOL. You'll cause a heart attack here :)

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

gzt

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#2269917 4-Jul-2019 14:22

Residential water usage is somewhat manageable and plenty of room for innovation there. Look at commerical water usage for a bigger picture.

There is always a reason and pressure to keep commerical prices low because profitability of business.

On an investment front i will say it's somewhat tragic that we generate many tons of stormwater piped into coastal environments that would be very acceptable for many commerical activities with minimal filtering and treatment required.

old3eyes

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#2269925 4-Jul-2019 14:44

tripper1000:

This should not be a surprise to anyone with 1/2 a brain.

We've grown Auckland's population by approx 50% over the last 25 years and not made the corresponding 50% increases in water, electricity, sewage, roading and other infrastructure. Standby for more associated problems.

We've not made a matching increase in the supply of greenfields land for housing, and so it should be no surprise either that land prices (aka housing prices) are very high.

Yet the Auckland Council still has grandiose schemes for vanity projects they want to do before any water infrastructure.

Vanity projects

Regards,

Old3eyes

Benoire

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#2269926 4-Jul-2019 14:47

old3eyes:

tripper1000:

This should not be a surprise to anyone with 1/2 a brain.

We've grown Auckland's population by approx 50% over the last 25 years and not made the corresponding 50% increases in water, electricity, sewage, roading and other infrastructure. Standby for more associated problems.

We've not made a matching increase in the supply of greenfields land for housing, and so it should be no surprise either that land prices (aka housing prices) are very high.

Yet the Auckland Council still has grandiose schemes for vanity projects they want to do before any water infrastructure.

Vanity projects

Different funding regimes and rates mechanisms to pay for this. City Centre targetted rate is paying for this, where as the water infrastructure comes from the entire region. Watercare are also self funding and do not come from rates or Council funding processes.

Aredwood

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#2269940 4-Jul-2019 14:57

Benoire:
And to add to Tripper1000 comments, our operating budgets for maintenance in the transport space are only growing around 0.5% per annum but our capital and greenfield expenditure is huge... We're going to have asset problems in to the future across all critical infrastructure in my humble opinion.

Hope that there will never be an earthquake in Auckland. As large parts of Auckland still use asbestos cement water and drain pipes. And well as clay and cast iron pipes.

Asbestos cement pipes struggle to handle ground movements just from seasonal changes to ground moisture levels. Won't take much of an earthquake to destroy them beyond practical repair. As any repairs means exposure to asbestos hazards.

Jase2985

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#2270119 4-Jul-2019 19:28

old3eyes:

Jase2985:

old3eyes:

We were told when the Waikato pipeline was installed that Auckland would never have a water shortage again. Guess they lied again. Get ready folks for a price hike.

i doubt they would have said that given the small level of water it provides

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/eastern-courier/8393881/Waikato-pipeline-a-saviour

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10872330

doesnt say that at all.....

zyo

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#2270121 4-Jul-2019 19:38

tripper1000:

This should not be a surprise to anyone with 1/2 a brain.

We've grown Auckland's population by approx 50% over the last 25 years and not made the corresponding 50% increases in water, electricity, sewage, roading and other infrastructure. Standby for more associated problems.

We've not made a matching increase in the supply of greenfields land for housing, and so it should be no surprise either that land prices (aka housing prices) are very high.

Look on the bright side we now have H&M, Zara, Xiaomi and soon Sephora, Ikea, Costco and maybe Taco Bell thanks to population growth.

tripper1000

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#2270553 5-Jul-2019 13:59

Yay!

Big chain stores full of home furnishings will make the new underclass of people who will never own a house feel so much better. On the flip-side I guess cheap throw away furniture is practical for renters - they can simply leave it behind/throw it out to make moving from pillar to post easier.

Given that the new high density houses being built in "Suburbs of the Future" like Hobsonville feel more like a crash-pad's than homes, cheap fast food & Uber Eats etc is a logical progression that eliminates what passes for a kitchen now days.

zyo

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#2270558 5-Jul-2019 14:09

tripper1000:
Yay!

Big chain stores full of home furnishings will make the new underclass of people who will never own a house feel so much better. On the flip-side I guess cheap throw away furniture is practical for renters - they can simply leave it behind/throw it out to make moving from pillar to post easier.

Given that the new high density houses being built in "Suburbs of the Future" like Hobsonville feel more like a crash-pad's than homes, cheap fast food & Uber Eats etc is a logical progression that eliminates what passes for a kitchen now days.

What makes you think our current furniture retailers are not already selling throw-away furnitures but just at a much higher margin?

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