Urgent conserve water notice issued for Far North residents after main water pipe damaged
Residents in the Far North district are being urged to conserve water for the rest of the day, after a major pipe break was found on the mains water supply.
People are being told to put off laundry duties, as well as showering for shorter periods and flushing the toilet less.
The Far North District Council issued an urgent conserve water notice for the Bay of Islands this morning, asking locals and businesses connected to council water supplies to immediately conserve water for the rest of the day.
“A major break to the mains water supply located on State Highway 11 means that storage reservoirs supplying Waitangi, Paihia, Te Haumi and Ōpua are cut off and cannot refill until the main is repaired,” a statement on the council’s Facebook page said.
Repair to take several hours to fix
“Unless customers reduce water consumption now, reservoirs will become seriously depleted as the day progresses; which could lead to low pressure and even a complete loss of supply in some areas.”
Contractors are at the scene and estimate it will take several hours to repair - meaning the work will not be completed until about 3.30pm.
“This is due to the work site being on a busy highway, which requires traffic management to be in place to ensure the safety of work crews.”
Photos of the damaged pipe appear to show signs of erosion.
A Far North District Council spokesman told the Herald it is not known exactly how the damage occurred.
“Often it’s just old pipes. When [the] ground is very wet or very dry, it moves.”
Asked about the current status of the reservoirs, he said there is no low pressure at the moment.
“I think the reservoirs are still in good shape, but a lot of water use will deplete those over the day. It’s more precautionary than a real crisis.”
He said locals were generally good at complying when an urgent conserve water notice was issued by authorities and hoped residents would do the same today.
“I hope they just see this notice and think: ‘Oh well, I think I will delay my washing this time’.”
He said residents could stay updated on the situation by checking the Far North District Council’s Facebook page.
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