Water assurance given

In light of three recent water main failures in the Queenstown Lakes District, residents could take confidence from the Council’s ability to ensure that water supply would continue to meet the community’s needs, Queenstown Lakes District Council infrastructure services general manger Mark Kunath said.

“The community can have confidence in supply. When and if we strike problems then we have the expertise and the resource to address them,” he said.

In the wake of the recent failures, Mr Kunath said it was not his intention to place any blame.
The Council needed to take a wider approach than focussing on the past, when it came to the district’s water network.
“Recent water main failures cannot be solely attributed to previous contractors, when there are a wide number of factors,” Mr Kunath said.

The Council has recently restructured the engineering function to deliver better results at less cost and bring some of the functions performed by consultants ‘in house’.
“We are in good shape to have a look at the bigger picture because there are a lot of elements that need to come into play,” Mr Kunath said.

For example Council would be remiss if it did not consider the effects of growth and the unforeseen pressure that has been placed on the existing system.

“I am of the view now that we need to look forward, assess the status of the network and then implement solutions,” Mr Kunath said.

A new asset management system had also now been installed to enable the Council to better analyse faults and deliver targeted projects.

Meanwhile, the water would continue to flow, he said.