Aucklanders have met calls to save water but the city's supplier says that needs to be sustained.
Aucklanders have reached the target of using 400 million litres of water or less per day. Photo: Supplied / Watercare
Auckland's main water treatment plant at Ardmore was swamped with silt and debris after heavy rain earlier in the week, forcing the plant to process water at half the normal rate.
The situation has created potentially the worst water crisis in the city in over 20 years.
Watercare said use needed to be down to about 400 million litres of water a day, warning that if the target was not met, then it might need to release untreated water into the system and issue a region-wide boil-water notice.
Yesterday, Aucklanders used 415 million litres.
But today Watercare said the region had reached the target, with use dropping to 390 million litres.
That was an excellent result but needed to be sustained, it said.
It suggested people take shorter showers, use the half flush button on the toilet and only wash full loads of dishes and clothing.
The savings may need to be sustained until the end of the month.
Water issues in Hamilton
Hamilton City Council is also continuing to ask residents to conserve water for the next three days as a precautionary measure, in case it needed to shut down a water main.
It said rising Waikato River levels could affect the stability of the slip-affected Eastern Bulk Water Main.
The site, which supplies about 27,000 homes, runs under the Waikato River from the city's water treatment plant opposite Hamilton Gardens.
The council said it was monitoring the site.