HOUSEHOLDS in three Rural City of Wangaratta towns have been spared from Stage 2 water restrictions for now after their water usage was monitored under an experiment last month.

Oxley, Moyhu and Whitfield customers were asked to reduce their water use voluntarily or face Stage 2 water restrictions.

A water use scorecard was set up to monitor the towns over two weeks to see if households could reduce usage and meet the 1000-litre per day target.