Hamilton is moving early to bring in water restrictions for the summer.
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The city will go to Smart Water alert level 2 from Wednesday.
This means residents can only use garden sprinklers on alternate days and then only between 6am and 8pm.
The city council says despite recent rainfall, Hamilton is experiencing high temperatures and with it, climbing water consumption.
"Before making the call, we consider a number of factors and look ahead with the goal of saving as much water as we can. We also don't want to seesaw in and out of restrictions," Hamilton City Council City Waters manager Emily Botje said in a statement.
In recent days more than 75-million litres, the equivalent of 30-Olympic swimming pools of water have been used.