Leakage issues at Wanaka, Hawea, and Luggate were all placing a demand on the region's water supplies and costing the council money, QLDC water operations manager Gerry Essenberg told the Wanaka Community Board.
"Queenstown has a problem with losing water and our tests have shown Wanaka is experiencing the same issues," he told board members.
About 30-35% of water was lost through the system in Wanaka, he said.
The national average for leakage and water supply loss was anywhere between a high of 240 litres a day, across all water connections, and a low of 140 litres a day.
Wanaka's minimum leakage flow has been recorded by council staff to be 550 litres a day, Mr Essenberg said.
In comparison, Hawea and Luggate's leakage records show the townships respectively lose about 260 litres a day, per connection, and 241 litres per day - both at the high end of the national average, he said.
Reducing Wanaka's leakage issue to about 240 litres per connection per day would reduce annual power costs by about $60,000 per annum, Mr Essenberg told the board members.
"We need to spend a bit of time and effort to find out where the water is going and then halve it," he said.
Several factors contributed to the water leakage, he said in response to questions from the board.
Mr Essenberg agreed with Dick Kane, that crib owners leaving taps dribbling during winter to ensure water mains did not freeze up was a problem, as were older homes with ageing pipes and bad connections.
A budget of $132,000 for planned leakage reduction is provided for in the council's 2010-11 annual plan, Mr Essenberg said.
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