As we move into autumn and the dry weather recedes a bit, our team have been keeping an eye on the levels in our water sources, and made the decision on Monday to move Te Aroha from level 3 to level 2 water restrictions.

While the recent rain has been great for refilling our water sources, it has also muddied the waters and slowed production of treated water in our water treatment plants. Over in Matamata the Tills Road water supply is still under pressure at the moment due to poor raw water quality.

Over in Morrinsville, we are anticipating the Topehaehae reservoir (Waterworks Road) turning over as temperatures drop. 'Turning over' is when environmental factors (in this case temperature) cause layers to mix and change places. This worsens the raw water quality for a time while the layers settle. In turn, this puts pressure on our treatment plants and slows production of treated water.

With these factors in mind, we will be remaining on level 2 water restrictions across the disctrict for now. Just a quick reminder of what that means:

• Sprinklers and garden irrigation systems on alternating days, between 6-8am and 6-8pm only.
• Watering by hand anytime.