Wellington city residents warned to store water after burst pipe needed urgent repairs

Wednesday, 21 August 2024

A burst pipe left water covering part of a key Wellington arterial road early on Wednesday.

It was blocking a cycleway on Cambridge Tce, with some water also getting onto the parallel Kent Tce.

Residents in parts of Mt Victoria, Roseneath and Hataitai were told they may experience no service or low water pressure.

Wellington Water is hoping to restore proper water supply in the inner city about midnight but is still urging people to store water.

An update from the water supplier just before 6pm said the risk of the shutdown widening this evening has reduced but water trucks would still be considered if the situation got worse.

“To limit the disruption to peak hour traffic, crews will continue the repair after 7pm tonight.

“Due to the repair's complexity, we anticipate work to continue until later this evening, and service to be restored around midnight,” the update said.

The areas that may be affected by low or no service are Courtenay Place from Cambridge Tce to Allen St, Pirie St from Austin St to Kent Tce, Brougham St from Pirie St to Armour Ave and parts of Hataitai and Roseneath.

Wellington Water has previously said it was uncertain if its repairs to a burst pipe on Cambridge Tce will work.

Crews were advised of the leak on Cambridge Tce about 3am and were soon on site to begin repair work. Previously the agency said it would be fixed by 5pm.

Previously it had said residents in parts of Mt Victoria, Roseneath and Hataitai may experience no service or low water pressure after a burst pipe sent water flowing over a main.

The inside lane of Kent Tce was closed in the morning, and drivers were advised to use the Oriental Bay route to Wellington Airport if required.

By 10am, most of the water had subsided, but mud and silt was left behind. Emergency crews appeared to be chopping down branches and trees that had become unstable in the flood.

Sheridan McMillan, who has worked in the automotive industry on Kent Tce for two years, said there was water all over the road when he arrived at work in the morning.

“It is really frustrating because traffic is already bad and this makes it worse,” he said.

Business was already “quite bad” on this stretch of road in Wellington, and leaks made it even less likely he would see people coming through the doors.

“All around businesses are saying they have a scarcity of customers, not just the automotive industry, it’s hospitality, things like that.”

Honda Store Wellington manager Nick Devereux, whose business is next to where the pipe burst, said traffic management was very quick to respond to the incident in the early hours of the morning.

“No issues in terms of access getting into the building, it was good as gold,” he said.

It was the first time he seen a leak in that part of Kent Tce, and he was not worried it would affect business.

“Everyone is fully aware of Wellington’s water problems and I think this is just another instance of it.”

A passerby on the scene about 6am said water was blocking the cycleway on Cambridge Tce, with some water also getting onto the parallel Kent Tce, with cars driving through it.