DESPITE an easing of restrictions, Bathurst residents are still being frugal when it comes to water use at home.
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Over the month of August, the demand on the town water supply was 8.8 megalitres per day and the average residential consumption was 123 litres per person per day.
In response to Chifley Dam's water level rising, Bathurst Regional Council relaxed water restrictions to level three on August 28.
Consumption was expected to increase, but council's director of Engineering Services, Darren Sturgiss, said the average figures were below expectations.
Over a four-week period, the average consumption was 9.6ML/d or 135L/p/d.
"Residents have responded very positively to water restrictions and the decrease in water consumption is a direct result of residents being conservative and adhering to restrictions," Mr Sturgiss said.
"We are at the stage where residents are using less water than anticipated, which will go a long way toward conserving the available water supplies."
Consumption is expected to go up over summer, but Mr Sturgiss hopes that residents will continue to show a conservative approach to water use.
"Ideally, council would like to see water consumption under 200L/p/d over summer (high level water restrictions aim to achieve 219L/p/d) - this figure would enable residents to use water conservatively indoors and outdoors, to maintain gardens and lawns, wash cars and use water for recreational purposes," he said.
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Mayor Bobby Bourke is impressed and proud of the community's efforts to conserve water even while the dam is at capacity.
"I'm glad people are listening. The less water we use, the longer that we do have it in our dam," he said.
"We've had a good water campaign going on for about the last two years. It's good that our consumption is down."
While the last couple of years, which saw the dam level drop to below 30 per cent, have been scary, water restrictions and residents' compliance have helped to extend the life of the supply.
Now that there has been significant rain and the dam is full, Cr Bourke said council is using the reprieve to focus on other projects to reduce the risk of the city ending up in the same situation again.
He urged the community to keep doing what it's doing and trust in council's engineers.
"The engineers are always on top of what we can and can't do with our water, and a better way of doing what we can and can't do with our water," Cr Bourke said.
