A Dubbo woman has told of being encouraged to fill her rainwater tank with town water before level four restrictions begin on November 1.
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Karen Cole says "people are hoarding water" and more education is needed to help them understand the impact on the environment and the community of their actions.
"Someone suggested to me to stick my hose in the gutter and fill up the tank," Mrs Cole said.
"People are sticking up their 'tank water in use' signs and it's not tank water.
"It's town water put in the tank and you could easily test it for fluoride."
The Dubbo resident, whose family of five uses a total of about 700 litres (L) of water a day, wants the community to pull together to conserve water by observing water restrictions.
The per person/ per day water use target for level three and four water restrictions is 295L and 245L, respectively.
Mrs Cole is an advocate for the monitoring of water meters because of the "selfish behaviour" of some residents.
"I drive around town and see gardens that are greener than they have ever been before because people are not getting it," she said.
Dubbo Regional Council is discouraging residents connected to town water from filling up rainwater tanks with it.
"Filling up rainwater tanks interrupts the daily data and causes miscalculations in what the community is using for their general residential use," the council's chief executive officer Michael McMahon said.
"Council uses this data to project the level of restriction placed on the community."
Under level four restrictions, the watering of residential and non-residential/commercial lawns with town water is not permitted.
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Watering of gardens will be allowed between 6pm and 8pm on Wednesdays and Sundays using drip systems, soaker hoses and hand-held hoses with trigger nozzles.
