Thames water supply line repair costs still to be determined after damage

The cost of the repairs following a water shortage in Thames are still not known after a third-party contractor damaged a raw water supply line.

The cost to repair a damaged water supply line in Thames is still not known after an incident last month.

Level 5 water restrictions for the town were put in place after a third-party contractor damaged the supply line at Kauaeranga on March 22.

Water restrictions were lifted five days later and the water supply returned to “normal” on March 27.

Thames-Coromandel District Council said on March 22 that normal supply would be restored by late evening on March 25.

On Tuesday this week, a council spokesperson said the cost to repair the line wasn’t known to the council yet.

“We contract to Veolia to run our water services, including emergency repairs like this one.

“They invoice us monthly; when we receive their invoice for this work, we’ll invoice the third-party contractor that did the damage so that the repair costs will be recovered.”

Hauraki Coromandel Post asked the council about details on the incident, including how the water supply was damaged, how much lower than normal the water supplies were, how many residents had been impacted, what repairs were needed and estimated costs.

In response to the questions, the spokesperson said normal water storage levels were between 70 and 90 per cent of the Kauaeranga reservoir’s capacity.

After the pipe was damaged, the levels were between 30 and 35 per cent.

The spokesperson said a contractor had repaired the damaged pipe on March 26.

“It was an awkward site, difficult to work in, but the job was done,” the council spokesperson said.

Stay up to date with the Waikato Herald

Get the latest Waikato headlines straight to your inbox Monday to Saturday. Register for free today - click here and choose Local News.