Push to use less water, and cut infrastructure costs

The simplicity of turning on a tap and filling a glass with treated water belies the huge cost and effort involved with water infrastructure.

This week, the Queenstown Lakes District Council will be rolling out a "big project" with a long life in an effort to help the community save water.

Council communications manager Meaghan Miller said the campaign would be launched on Wednesday.

"There are some big issues - it's a campaign that talks openly about the problems.

"It's a big deal and will be across multiple mediums and we need to bring the community on board with what the problem is."

The council had previously identified water demand management as a key issue in the last two 10-year plans.

In October, Queenstown Lakes Mayor Vanessa van Uden said the simple message was that "if we use less treated water, we will pay less for infrastructure, in fact millions of dollars less".