Auckland's water consumption has risen above the levels needed to avert a boiling water notice.
The level of silt in the Hunua dam system can be easily seen in before and after photos. Photo: Supplied / Watercare
Large land slips into the Hunua water catchment during heavy rain, has seriously reduced the supply coming from the city's largest catchment.
The council's water company wants daily consumption cut to 400 million litres a day, but said it rose yesterday to 419 million litres.
The city's water use had fallen below 390 million litres during the weekend.
Watercare chief executive Raveen Jaduram said while Monday's rose above the target, the result was still a good one, and the system could manage different levels of demand on a day by day basis.
Watercare hoped lower consumption would avert the need to let soil contaminated water into the system, which would trigger the need for Aucklanders to boil their drinking water.
Mr Jaduram said he hoped the supply could return to normal in three to four weeks.
Still too dangerous to inspect New Lynn culvert
Meanwhile, the Auckland Council said a flood damaged culvert in New Lynn was still too dangerous for staff to inspect.
The culvert blocked during a weekend deluge, causing a sinkhole and the closure of part of central New Lynn.
Councillors this morning have been told it appears rubbish appeared to have blocked a drain, which was known as a hotspot.
Council staff have told a meeting the culvert was inspected prior to the weekend deluge, but its older design meant it could not cope with the volume of water.
