Te Awamutu Water Supply threatened after major failure on Saturday

19 September 2011

A major break in the trunk watermain that supplies water to Te Awamutu threatened to cut supply on Saturday.

Waipa District Council water services team and contractors were able to maintain the water supply, however requests were made for residents to conserve water and water tankers were brought in as a precautionary measure.

Pirongia, Kihikihi and other Waipa district water supplies were not affected.

Service delivery group manager Barry Bergin said a leak was detected at Papesch Road at about 8am which significantly reduced the amount of water entering the Te Awamutu reservoirs.

Residents and Fonterra were asked to conserve water immediately and the tankers were deployed in strategic positions around Te Awamutu at about 3.30pm once the reservoirs reached the 10 percent level.

Mr Bergin said the council monitored the reservoirs extremely closely and some people may have experienced a loss of pressure however there were few, if any, complete water losses.

The repair was successfully completed and the reservoirs had replenished to an acceptable level at about 8pm.

We would like to thank the Te Awamutu community for their patience and apologise for any inconvenience caused, said Mr Bergin.

We would also like to acknowledge the hard work of our staff and contractors in helping to ensure the water supply was maintained, he said.

The council will be conducting a review of the incident.

ENDS

For further information contact

Lisa Nairne

Senior Communications Advisor

Ph: 027 532 1760

Email: lisa.nairne@waipadc.govt.nz