Wellington residents are being asked to store up to 140 litres of emergency water per person due to the risk of severe shortages over the summer period.
But the request has left some in the capital baffled - with the region's emergency management office admitting almost half of Wellington's water is lost due to leaky pipes.
Cuba Street's iconic bucket fountain isn't the only thing splashing water on Wellington's streets.
An ageing pipe system and population growth have caused hundreds of leaks to pop up across the city.
"Currently, leakage is sitting at around 45 percent - that is a huge amount of water to be losing into the environment," said Wellington Water Regulatory Services director Charles Barker.
That's almost half of Wellington's water, leaking into the gutters. Wellington Water accepts that number is too high.
"It's our fundamental priority is to get leakage back down to a responsible level so summers like we're facing today aren't coupled with severe water restrictions," Barker said.
The city is expected to move to level 2 restrictions soon - which will mean no sprinklers or irrigation for the garden, no matter how dry it gets.
"Currently we're saying that there is a 100 percent chance sometime in the summer we will move to level 2," Barker said.
That 100 percent chance has motivated the region's Emergency Management Office, which is calling for residents to prioritise their emergency water supplies.
"We're recommending people work on 20 litres per person per day," said Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO) Regional Manager Jeremy Holmes.
It also recommends people store enough water for each person for a week. That means if you have five people in your household you need to store 700 litres of water.
With so much of their water draining away already, some Wellingtonians think the focus should be on fixing the pipes.
"I've phoned someone in and they've taken about two to three months to fix," one person told Newshub.
Wellington Water says there's no easy fix for Wellington's leaks, so people will have no choice but to conserve water.
"Unfortunately it is what it is and to get through this summer we are going to have to ask a lot of our public," Barker said.
Wellington's pipes - putting a dampener on the holiday period.
