Christchurch residents are being warned to conserve water or face restrictions.
Christchurch City Council is in a race to upgrade over 100 wellheads, and will extend chlorination treatment of the water supply if too much water is used.
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The council is urging Christchurch residents to do their part in helping it remove chlorine from the city's water supplies.
With summer on the way, locals of the Garden City could face strict water restrictions while the council upgrade pumps.
Water is in hot demand in Christchurch, with the council asking residents to let their precious green lawn turn brown.
Council water supply programme manager Helen Beaumont says the traditional high demand for water in summer won't be met if some of the wells are shut down.
Those wells are being periodically shut down and council workers are upgrading them to the safer option of above ground wellheads.
While the work continues, chlorine has been added to the city's water system to avoid potential contamination. The whole job is incredibly time consuming.
Workers will be on site for up to six weeks - and with over 100 upgrades to complete, the job could take three years.
So the council is asking for Cantabrians help - otherwise residents will be asked to use hand-held hoses and not sprinklers, and will only be allowed to water between 9pm and 7am.
"If we can get people to reduce their garden irrigation, let their lawns go brown, use a lot of mulch on their vege garden and save a good 30 percent on what they usually would over summer, we'll be able to keep the works going," says Ms Beaumont.
The news could come as a shock for gardeners, as soil moisture is already unusually dry for this time of year.
For the past three months going back to August, much of New Zealand - including many parts of the South Island - have experienced below normal or well below normal rainfall.
It's added more pain to a city so famous for its gardens.
Newshub.
