Te Awamutu Watermain upgrades

Over time, the growth of our towns means that we need to provide more water to meet demand. The current pipes have reached the end of their life span and need to be upgraded before they stop working as they should. The current level of service also needs to be increased to meet the supply needs and availability to the fire service for firefighting activities. These works are part of our wider plan to future proof the districts water supply, once complete, they should continue to supply our communities for up to 100 years.

The work is expected to take around 11 months to complete.

The upgrades will provide improved, consistent supply and pressure as well as improving firefighting capacity.

• 10 litres per second is ideal level of service pressure.
• 25 litres per second is the ideal level of service for firefighting hydrants.

Most of the work will be done using horizontal directional drilling (HDD). This method is less invasive using a surface-mounted drill rig that launches and places a drill string at a shallow angle to the surface. Only a small hole is needed for this method.

While a level of disruption is to be expected, this will be kept to a minimum. We will be working closely with businesses in the CBD to ensure access to their businesses is maintained.

Private fire-fighting systems, requiring a specific flow and pressure for internal sprinkler systems, will still need to be designed and maintained by the property owners.

The majority of works in the town centre will be done at night. We’re doing the work like this to minimise disruptions to businesses, their staff, and those shopping, eating, or wandering around town.

Any roadside parking affected during night works will be reinstated for the next day.

There may be a time when a business’ water connection is being worked on, and this could result in a carpark or two being occupied so our crew can work on their connection to the water service. Our crews will only use up to three carparks in any one work area during the day.

Work will be done outside of the season around the sports fields and any events at Albert Park. However, there will be open trenching needed at Albert Park. Open trenching will run along the lower carpark, behind the club rooms and along the front of the stadium to Park Road. A full reinstatement of ‘like for like’ will be done on the completion of work.

The site has been leased by GT Civil for a temporary site office and contractor yard (approx. 9 months) for the new watermain project to be constructed along SH3 and into TA town centre.

Site Hours are 7am – 6pm Mon – Fri and 8am - 4pm Saturday, however vehicles may be moved around outside of those hours.

The contractor is currently pot-holing around the work sites, to ensure underground services are accurately located. The water is pumped out during this process and taken to the site yard for disposal. The contractor is not excavating in any contaminated areas, so the ground water may appear dirty, but is the same quality as the ground water surrounding the stream.

The large hole at the site yard is a settling pond, which is used to contain any excess water from the work sites, within the boundaries of the compound. Any water added to this pond will soak into the ground within 24 hours.