Thames was placed on Level 5 water restrictions on Friday following a contractor incident. Photo / NZME
Thames was placed on Level 5 water restrictions on Friday following a contractor incident. Photo / NZME
Thames residents in the Kauaeranga area are still waiting for their water supply to return to “normal” after a contractor damaged a raw water supply line on Friday.
Thames-Coromandel District Council is yet to address specific questions about the incident, regarding the cost of repairs, what it considered ‘normal’ waterstorage levels to be, and how many residents were affected.
Level 5 water restrictiona for Thames were put in place following the incident on March 22.
Mayor Len Salt, on Wednesday, did not have specific details, but said council staffers spent “all weekend on it”.
“I don’t know the operational specifics; we did go into water restrictions for a brief time.”
Early on Wednesday, a council spokesperson confirmed water storage for both raw (untreated) and treated water increased to a level that allowed water restrictions to be lifted at 4pm on March 26.
“By about noon today (March 27) water supply to residents in the Kauaeranga Valley should be normal.”
Hauraki Coromandel Post on Monday, asked the council what happened, how the water supply was damaged, when and where it happened, how much lower than normal were water supplies, what was considered to be normal supply, how had the repairs been difficult to complete, what repairs were needed, estimated costs, how many residents had been impacted, and an estimate of when repairs would be completed, and things will be back to “normal”.
On Tuesday, a council spokesperson confirmed a contractor had repaired the damaged pipe.
“It was an awkward site, difficult to work in, but the job was done,” the spokesperson said
The spokesperson said they were asking the water team regarding cost, and for the number of affected properties.
Thames-Coromandel District mayor Les Salt.
On Wednesday, the spokesperson again said they were asking the water team for the cost, and what the council considered “normal” water storage levels to be.
It had earlier been anticipated that normal supply would be restored by late evening on Monday as a Level 5 water restriction for Thames had been put in place with a total watering ban until the raw water and treated water storage could be refilled back to normal levels.
