LAKE Macquarie returns to Level 1 water restrictions today, but Hunter Water is urging locals to keep up their water-saving habits.
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The easing of Level 2 restrictions to Level 1 across the Lower Hunter comes in response to recent rain which has helped boost the region's dams.
Storage levels for the Lower Hunter have risen by more than 10 per cent to a total of 63.6 per cent of capacity.
Hunter Water expects storage levels will reach 65 per cent of capacity by the end of the month.
"While this is a step in the right direction, we need to see further increase in our storage level before we are confident we are out of this severe drought," Hunter Water's executive drought lead Darren Cleary said.
"It's really important that our community continues to maintain the great water-saving behaviours that they have demonstrated so far, which has helped us reduce consumption by 20 per cent compared with what we expected.
"This amounts to the average water use of 70,000 households, which is an outstanding result. I encourage everyone to keep up the great work because we all have a role to play in conserving our precious resource and using it wisely."
Level 1 water restrictions mean outdoor watering is permitted with a trigger nozzle hose before 10am and after 4 pm, and vehicles can be washed with a bucket, trigger nozzle hose or pressure cleaner.
The use of sprinklers for watering of gardens or lawns and the hosing of hard surfaces is not permitted.
"Along with the restrictions, one of the most effective ways to save water is reducing showers to 4 minutes. Other measures like fixing leaks and re-using household water on the lawn are also easy ways to use less," Mr Cleary said.
"Meanwhile Hunter Water will continue to focus its efforts on driving down leakage across the water network. We've increased our active leak detection work to survey even more of our 5,000 kilometre water network each week and have brought in additional resources over the past six months to find and fix leaks quicker."
Level 1 water restrictions are also in force on the Central Coast.
Recent rain has seen the Central Coast's total water supplies boosted to 56.87 per cent of capacity.
- For more information on water restrictions, visit hunterwater.com.au/restrictions
