Kāeo water outage dispute: Residents say supply has been out for 2 weeks, operator rejects claim

In the latest water issue to hit Kāeo, residents say they have been without water for over two weeks, a claim disputed by the town's water supplier. Photo / Yolisa Tswanya

For over two weeks Kāeo residents have been without running water, but the operator of the town’s water scheme has disputed this, insisting the outage has lasted only a few days.

Last week the Far North District Council (FNDC) announced that the owner of the water supply, Bryce Aldridge, has shut the water off and a tanker would be sent to the township to provide water.

While the council described the outage as temporary, residents say their taps have been dry for far longer.

Earlier this year it was revealed the town has been under a boil water notice for the past decade. Water authority Taumata Arowai stepped in to find solutions and recently announced it would be convening discussions between the council and supplier to address the long-standing issues.

Resident Anna Valentine said the recent development was frustrating.

“It’s totally third-world and it’s really hard. We have just been left in a desert.”

She said people have been filling containers at the tanker, supplied by Zap Water, while others have relied on rainwater.

“We spent Friday night repriming the pump after running out of water, it’s exhausting. It’s basically a state of emergency.”

Zap Water said residents could fill containers with water from the firm’s truck, which would be near the BP until 7pm on Monday.

Valentine said they were unsure what would happen once the truck leaves.

“The Zap Water guy said today is the last day he’s going to be here doing this, so I don’t know what happens tomorrow.”

She said prior to the outage, communication had been patchy, with only a few residents receiving notice that the water “might be” turned off.

“It said it would be back by Monday, two weeks ago, but that Monday rolled around and there was still nothing.”

Valentine said she contacted water authority Taumata Arowai to air her concerns.

“Everyone just keeps passing the problem on. Council just says it’s private and no one takes responsibility.”

A cafe manager in town said they were on the water supply and also affected, but declined to comment further.

Another resident and business owner said they were on tank water because “the town’s supply was not suitable” for them in running their business.

He said he had heard about the outage but it had not disrupted their day-to-day operation.

Aldridge said the situation was not as bad as people believe and called the claims “people using their imagination”.

Aldridge rejected claims that people have been without water for over two weeks.

“People have a big imagination. It hasn’t been off for two weeks, we are only talking days. The truck has been there since Saturday to mitigate the issue while we sort things out.”

He said the problem at the water plant was technical and not related to health or safety.

“We have been working on it. I can’t disclose the details of the issue until the repairs are complete.”

While he did not disclose the reason for the outage, he said it was a problem that needed specialist work.

“I am confident that the water will be back on by 2am [on Tuesday].”

Taumata Arowai said it was planning a meeting between the council and the supplier as soon as possible, to discuss the immediate needs for Kāeo and ways to fast-track a long-term solution for the community.

“Taumata Arowai is focused on ensuring the safety and sufficiency of water supply for communities,” said the authority’s head of operations Steve Taylor.

“Our thanks go to the Far North District Council for arranging a water tanker for immediate community use over the weekend and Monday.”

The council’s head of infrastructure, Tanya Proctor said they were asked by Taumata Arowai to provide the drinking water tanker and are continuing to work closely with the water authority on the situation.

“We don’t know wy the water was turned off and are actively investigating.”

“There are currently ongoing discussions about this between Taumata Arowai, FNDC and Wai Care and at this stage we don’t know the duration (of the outage).”