Wellington Water believes a Council top-up could help with a feared water shortage this summer.

The City Council is giving the water entity up to $2 million dollars.

The Wellington region loses about 45 percent of its supply in leaks.

Wellington Water Chief Executive Tonia Haskell says they are asking the regional council to let it also take more water from rivers.

"We're going to try as hard as we can so we never have to put our rest homes and our hospitals at risk this summer."

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