Tauranga City Councillor Greg Brownless says the council can more effectively help save water by examining how building consent costs and other compliance costs can be reduced for people installing rain water tanks.
He was commenting on Environment Bay of Plenty's water sustainability strategy which begins, "Water is essential to life, it is a resource and a life source..."

He says he doesn't need to be told that water is essential to life, just how to best make it last.
Environment BOP is responsible for managing the water resource, including the allocation of rivers streams and groundwater and setting minimum flows and levels. Tauranga City Council and Western Bay of Plenty District Councils are responsible for providing good quality and safe drinking water to their communities.
Water demand is expected to double by 2055. Domestic municipal demand is expected to increase from about 17 million cubic metres per year now, to an anticipated 36 million cubic metres by 2055. On paper there is expected to be enough water available to meet the expected demand.
But the report also mentions using other methods to curb demand, including "economic instruments".
In Tauranga, households presently pay $1.45 per cubic metre for water. In summer 22 per cent of water use is outside the house, and 20 per cent of household water in a family residence is flushed down the toilet.
The water can be replaced with rainwater collected in tanks. City waters engineering technologies manager Celia Bowles says ground level tanks up to 30,000 litres can be installed without a building permit. Rainwater systems work in tandem with internally plumbed toilet cisterns or clothes washing machines will require backflow preventers, and a plumber to install.