The daily water allocation recommended for residents on drinking-water schemes in Central Otago is enough to run a standard irrigation sprinkler for up to two hours.
A recent workshop for councillors and community board members to discuss options for metered charging for all water schemes decided a district-wide allocation of 365 units a year (1000 litres a day) for each household was reasonable.
Council water services engineer Nigel Saunders suggested community boards should all adopt that figure as the allocation, based on domestic use, excluding irrigation. A four-person household would use 250 litres per person every day.
Two community boards, Roxburgh and Cromwell, stuck with that figure, while Maniototo and Vincent community boards chose a higher allocation.
Roxburgh was the last board to consider the matter, at its meeting this week.
Council assets and contracts manager Murray Washington said it was "a bit of a paper argument at present" as few water users in the Roxburgh ward were being billed.
Meters were still being installed and most extraordinary users of water who were eligible to pay an excess water charge - commercial users and owners of residential sections bigger than 1100sq m - would not be billed until July 2011.
"When you consider this again next year, you'll have a lot more information to make a decision on," Mr Washington said.
Roxburgh ward has two drinking-water schemes, Lake Roxburgh Village and Roxburgh.
Water meters will record the amount used and consumers will be charged for any water use above their allocation.
The council's water services engineer, Nigel Saunders, said without irrigation, it would be difficult for households to get through 1000 litres a day.
However, board member John Lane was surprised how much water home garden irrigation systems used. A fact sheet provided for board members said 1000 litres a day ran a standard sprinkler for one and a-half to two hours.
Last week, the Maniototo Community Board allocated Ranfurly and Naseby water-scheme users 500 units per year (1370 litres per household every day) before excess water fees were charged.
At its meeting last month, the Cromwell Community Board decided on an allocation of 365 units for Cromwell, Bannockburn and Pisa, while the Vincent Community Board decided on 518 units for Alexandra, 556 for Clyde and 488 for Omakau.
