Despite Tauranga experiencing enough rain to cause flash flooding last night, the council's water restrictions remain firmly in place.

City waters manager Steve Burton says rain doesn't top up the amount of drinking water in the city's reservoirs.

'It just means for a short time, people stop using as much water as they usually would during the hot weather, particularly trying to keep their gardens green.

'We don't have weeks of storage. Whatever water we can provide is being used on a continuous basis. There is enough for everyone but people have been using a lot more water than normal. That's why we've imposed a sprinkler ban.”

He says the council cannot yet confirm when the restrictions are likely to end.

'We're still in the early weeks of summer and have a long, dry season ahead of us, so we all need to continue to be mindful of our water use.

Tauranga's periods of highest water demand are 8.30am-12pm, and 6-8.30pm.

Steve says although the council will provide education, information and warning notices to encourage compliance with the water restrictions, action can be taken against those who breach the sprinkler ban.

'The Local Government Act 2002 and Council's Supply of Water 2007 bylaw allow for enforcement through prosecution and restriction of the water supply to a property.”

He wishes to thank all water users in the city for their efforts to conserve water and for observing the current water restrictions.

'The rain has given us (and our gardens) some temporary relief, but with months of hot, dry weather on the way it's important we keep up the good work.”

The water the council supplies to Tauranga homes comes from two spring-fed streams, the Tautau and the Waiorohi. The water is treated with microfiltration technology at two water processing plants, Oropi and Joyce Road.

Tauranga City uses an average of 36 million litres of water per day. In summer this can rise to 54 million litres per day. To help keep up with the demands of a growing city, a third microfiltration water processing plant is planned to be built along the Waiari Stream in Te Puke.

When demand for water is high, such as in summer, it puts pressure on the treatment plants. If the plants can't keep up with demand, restrictions are put in place so that treated water is not expended on superfluous activities such as sprinklers.