Ten Huntly water meters were targeted by vandals over the weekend.
Police are investigating a string of vandalised water meters in Huntly that almost left the Waikato town without water.
According to a Waikato District Council press release, vandals used a vehicle and chain to rip about 10 water meters out of place in one night.
“The result of the ripped-out water meters was a large-scale loss of treated drinking water across Huntly.”
Huntly General ward councillor David Whyte told the Waikato Herald the community came “really close” to running out of water.
“[If that happens] schools can’t open. People can’t shower before work. You can’t function.”
Whyte said many residents had “quite a strong negative reaction” to the vandalism.
“It’s not something you see everyday.”
The vandalism was discovered after Watercare’s on-call engineer noticed treated water levels in the Kimihia reservoir were dropping at an alarming rate on Saturday morning.
Waikato District Council waters manager Keith Martin said at two locations with 50-millimetre pipes the water loss was “particularly serious”.
“As well as the meters themselves, the backflow pipes were ripped out, and with pipes this size it’s like a fire hydrant being opened,” Martin said.
The level at the Kimihia reservoir went down as far as 20%, way below the normal 80% normal level.
“This is really serious as there was a risk there of people having no water for a while,” Martin said.
“If you think about people who may be on dialysis or families with babies, it is the vulnerable members of our communities that were put at real risk.”
Martin said the minimum level for a reservoir was about 55%. The vandalism affected the whole Huntly network.
“Taking that into consideration, as well as the staffing impact, it is a needless spend of ratepayer money spent to rectify the effect of theft and vandalism.”
Martin said the council estimated about 750,000 litres of water had been wasted.
“The cost of water treatment of that water is quite literally money down the drain, which is paid for by ratepayers.”
Martin said the re-sale value of the water meters was not high but the fact that most of the targeted properties were council-owned was a concern.
“We just can’t figure out the motivation behind this – it’s baffling and not something we’ve come across before at this scale,” Martin said.
“If it is motivated by a dispute or something it means that it is even more worrying because these people planned this and may understand the impact of what they are doing to the detriment of the good people of Huntly and the ratepayer in general.”
The council’s website said a report had been filed with police and Watercare was closely monitoring the network.
“If the public sees anyone tampering with water meters, please call the police and report it.”
In a statement, a police spokesperson said inquiries were being made into the incidents.
“We would like to hear from anyone with information that could assist our inquiries, including any reports of suspicious behaviour around the Huntly area over the weekend.
“You can contact police via 105, either over the phone or online, referencing file number 250407/6712.”
Maryana Garcia is a Hamilton-based reporter covering breaking news in Waikato. She previously wrote for the Rotorua Daily Post and Bay of Plenty Times.