Tankers providing Kawakawa water following overnight mains break
**UPDATE – 8.30pm**
Contractors say they remain on track to reconnect water by midnight, potentially a little earlier.
At 9pm the number of water trucks will be reduced to one at Boswell Road. This will remain until 10.30pm. A water truck will return to Boswell Road at 6am tomorrow.
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**UPDATE – 4.30pm**
Contractors have exposed a damaged mains pipeline linking Kawakawa to its storage reservoir. The break in the watermain has cut water supplies to large parts of Kawakawa since late last night.
The break occurred on a difficult-to-access hill above the cycle trail. Extensive excavation has been required to confirm whether damage was confined to a pipe collar or included a pipe section as well. Unfortunately, the damage is extensive, and contractors estimate repairs will not be completed before midnight.
Water tankers will remain in place at three locations - Bay of Islands College carpark, Albert Street by the primary, and Waiomio Road. A fourth tanker will be stationed at Boswell Street but may be called away during the night to restock the hospital reservoir.
Once repairs are completed, services will be reinstated in stages. This will be necessary to bleed air from the network and to prevent other pipes from rupturing. As a result, water may not be restored to homes in the most elevated parts of Kawakawa until Wednesday morning.
Some parts of Kawakawa are still receiving water supplies from a smaller pipeline unaffected by the mains break.
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**Update – 1.15pm** The water tanker that was stationed on Albert Street has now been redeployed to top-up the Bay of Islands Hospital water reservoir. There are still three tankers distributing water free of charge to residents at Bay of Islands College carpark, Boswell Street by the Kawakawa train station and at Waiomio Road. Please bring your own water containers to fill.
Much of Kawakawa is without water this morning after a watermain burst late last night. Council contractors are now on the scene and are working to repair the broken pipe, which is located up a steep bank.
However, residents are warned that due to magnitude of the break, normal water supplies are unlikely to resume for several hours. As a result, four water tankers are stationed around the town providing residents with treated water free of charge. These are located at Bay of Islands College carpark, Boswell Street, Waiomio Road and Albert Street near the primary school. The tankers will be onsite throughout the water outage. Residents should bring their own containers to be filled.
The water main break occurred around 9pm last night. Due to the wet and stormy conditions and the steep terrain, it was decided that for safety reasons repairs should not begin until first light today.