2 October 2024
All city water supply users are being asked to reduce unnecessary water use from now until Monday as urgent repairs are made to part of the city’s water pipeline.
Council 3 waters manager Leo Kelso says we’re carrying out repairs on the pipe from the Mangapoike dams to the Waingake treatment plant. This is having a temporary impact on treated water volumes supplied to the city.”
“We’re still producing water but it’s not enough to keep up with the increase in demand due to recent warmer weather, so our city reservoirs are under pressure.”
“We need your support to help reduce the water demand until Monday while we complete the work on the pipe and return to full water production capacity at Waingake.”
“Please avoid non-essential outdoor water use such as filling swimming pools or using sprinklers and hoses.”
Mr Kelso says with the last few days of warmer temperatures the city’s water usage almost doubled from 500 cubic metres per hour to 1000.
“The alternative water supply from the Waipaoa Treatment Plant will be started up to help supplement the supply.”
“Please remember, the water is always safe to drink and meets NZ’s very high water quality assurance rules set by Taumata Arowai.”
“We should all be thinking about conserving water now as we head into summer. Predictions are that it could be a dry one.”
Update 12pm Thursday 3 October
The Mangapoike Dam pipeline is back in operation and is now supplying water to the Waingake treatment plant. The Waipaoa treatment plant has been supplying water into the network since 7pm last night.It will still take several days to progressively replenish our city’s water reservoirs – they mainly top up at night when there’s less demand than during the day.Water demand still peaked at over 1000m3/hr last night – this is a substantial increase on normal demand, we normally only start seeing these peaks in late October / early November.
