Watercare urges Aucklanders to conserve water

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ShiroHagen

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# 251593 2-Jul-2019 17:08

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 now but I digress.

“The council controlled organisation is asking residents to take shorter showers and turn taps off while brushing teeth as a precaution”.

Who here runs a tap for 2 minutes continuously whilst brushing their teeth? If so why? What is the reasoning behind this? It must be fairly commonplace for this sort of advice to be given out at national level but I have never understood the background behind such an illogical practise.

I also find that trying to lather up under a running shower makes no sense – so I turn off the water after a minute or so, apply shower gel to exfol gloves, scrub, then turn on shower again to rinse off. Much the same way I wash my car I suppose. But as such I feel I don’t need to reduce my showering time as the water isn’t running the whole time.

But again I have to ask – if you are one of those the advice is aimed at: showering for 10mins continuously under running water, how/why does that work for you? Is it a matter of keeping warm whilst lathering up and scrubbing – i.e. you keep the hot water on but just step out of the flow?

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# 2268682 2-Jul-2019 18:20

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I leave the shower running the whole time but my showers are over and done with in under 3mins.

hio77

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# 2268683 2-Jul-2019 18:21

Was it not raining today and Yesterday?... I'm sure i remember getting wet...

Our watertanks are pretty full..

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tdgeek

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# 2268719 2-Jul-2019 18:45

hio77:

Was it not raining today and Yesterday?... I'm sure i remember getting wet...

Our watertanks are pretty full..

AKL rains every day doesn't it? :-)

I was raised in AKL, I just remember bare feet, wetas, mudflats, and the bogeyman at the footy club over the road from my kindy (Plymouth Crescent)

Can't recall much rain!

Jase2985

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# 2268828 2-Jul-2019 20:48

ShiroHagen:

Funny that as I thought the Waikato was sufficiently supplying our needs now but I digress.

waikato river supplies about 10-15% of Auckland's drinking water

Dams about 80% and the rest is from springs/ground water

The onehunga spring supplies about 2/3rds that of what the waikato river supplies.

hio77

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# 2268829 2-Jul-2019 20:51

tdgeek:

AKL rains every day doesn't it? :-)

I was raised in AKL, I just remember bare feet, wetas, mudflats, and the bogeyman at the footy club over the road from my kindy (Plymouth Crescent)

Can't recall much rain!

Ask all the folk from there when we send them back, they got wet!

Oh, also it just happens to have started bucketing down, right in time for a nap..

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rhy7s

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# 2268845 2-Jul-2019 21:34

ShiroHagen:

I also find that trying to lather up under a running shower makes no sense – so I turn off the water after a minute or so, apply shower gel to exfol gloves, scrub, then turn on shower again to rinse off. Much the same way I wash my car I suppose. But as such I feel I don’t need to reduce my showering time as the water isn’t running the whole time.

Also can't understand running a tap whilst brushing but I'd also recommend looking into how much lather and friction/abrasion is applied to your skin. See www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018651147/is-an-obsession-with-cleanliness-weakening-our-skin

Benoire

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# 2268864 2-Jul-2019 22:26

Remember this is not the single rainy day issue, more volume over a period; I recall reading from the article that compared to last year Auckland has recieved something like 33% less rain in the past 6 months which is quite substantial and as someone who rides an ebike from Titirangi to the viaduct daily, I have suffered far less wet and cold days compared to last year too.

blackjack17

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# 2268929 3-Jul-2019 06:05

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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 now but I digress.

“The council controlled organisation is asking residents to take shorter showers and turn taps off while brushing teeth as a precaution”.

Who here runs a tap for 2 minutes continuously whilst brushing their teeth? If so why? What is the reasoning behind this? It must be fairly commonplace for this sort of advice to be given out at national level but I have never understood the background behind such an illogical practise.

I also find that trying to lather up under a running shower makes no sense – so I turn off the water after a minute or so, apply shower gel to exfol gloves, scrub, then turn on shower again to rinse off. Much the same way I wash my car I suppose. But as such I feel I don’t need to reduce my showering time as the water isn’t running the whole time.

But again I have to ask – if you are one of those the advice is aimed at: showering for 10mins continuously under running water, how/why does that work for you? Is it a matter of keeping warm whilst lathering up and scrubbing – i.e. you keep the hot water on but just step out of the flow?

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)

MikeB4

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# 2268936 3-Jul-2019 07:13

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It seems to me that we are always seeing requests to conserve water etc, cut back our showers, don't wash the car or water our gardens. However there is always enough to supply the plants bottling and exporting our water.

Mike
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rhy7s

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# 2268956 3-Jul-2019 08:24

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MikeB4: It seems to me that we are always seeing requests to conserve water etc, cut back our showers, don't wash the car or water our gardens. However there is always enough to supply the plants bottling and exporting our water.

A source which obviously has a vested interest in downplaying concerns, however bottled water exports are a tiny fraction of water usage https://www.nzbeveragecouncil.org.nz/positions/water-royalties/ a lot more virtual water tied up in irrigation for other export industries.

tdgeek

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# 2268959 3-Jul-2019 08:30

In ChCh where there are water bottlers, they are not in ChCh water supply

MikeB4

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# 2268962 3-Jul-2019 08:36

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tdgeek:
In ChCh where there are water bottlers, they are not in ChCh water supply

Then why is that water not used to supplement the existing town supply and avoid the need to conserve during dry periods. Fresh safe water for New Zealanders first and export the surplus. However if there truly is shortages then there is no surplus and the precious commodity should not be exported.

Mike
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Beccara

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# 2268973 3-Jul-2019 08:45

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Because it's a drop in the bucket? Bottling uses a really small percentage of water, Auckland residential water usage is 250+ million liters PER DAY or 96 billion liters per year. Bottled water is using less than 200 million liters per year and a good chunk of that bottled water is used within NZ

Most problems are the result of previous solutions...

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tdgeek

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# 2268975 3-Jul-2019 08:46

MikeB4:
tdgeek:

In ChCh where there are water bottlers, they are not in ChCh water supply

Then why is that water not used to supplement the existing town supply and avoid the need to conserve during dry periods. Fresh safe water for New Zealanders first and export the surplus. However if there truly is shortages then there is no surplus and the precious commodity should not be exported.

Not sure Mike, how hard it would be to move water from one supply to another. Is water ours or is it the Earth's? But I do agree that if there is any shortage, bottlers are stopped. Down here the climate change prediction, and it is happening, is that Canterbury will see less rain, West Coast more rain. Plus more heavy rain and less mild rain, which is also a problem. It gets too dry, then we get too much

Plus, if we bottle water and export it why can't these be Kiwi businesses???

ShiroHagen

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# 2269014 3-Jul-2019 08:53

Senecio:

I leave the shower running the whole time but my showers are over and done with in under 3mins.

Under 3mins... I'm torn between congratulating you and calling BS on that. Raised that way or self developed habit?

Actively trying to conserve water? (and succeeding I would say) or just fast in general?

@Blackjack17 try challenging your teenage girls to clock in showers under 3mins - love to see the looks on their faces lol

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