Watermen complete massive repair job

Watermen have repaired an estimated two hundred breaks in pipes in and around Kaiapoi and the surrounding communities following the 7.1 earthquake that rocked parts of Canterbury.

Waimakariri District Council Utilities Manager, Gary Boot, says around 60 workers from council, other local authorities and contractors have been working dawn till dusk over the past nine days to restore water supplies.

“The guys have ‘literally’ been working every daylight hour possible. We’ve had some setbacks, with aftershocks reopening or creating new breaks, but are now comfortable we are well and truly on top of things.”

Water was restored to all of The Pines and Kairaki Beach, with the exception of a few isolated properties late last week and is now available to ALL residential houses in Kaiapoi at the BOUNDARY.

The council says anyone still without water is most likely to have a break somewhere on their property itself.

“Our primary focus has been repairing the infrastructure under the road, which has been significantly damaged in the quake. There may well still be some issues for households with damage to pipes that take the supply from the street to their house.”

Where owners are no longer occupying their properties, the council says they should talk to a plumber about any necessary repairs.

Where, however, people are still living in their homes and don’t have water, or sewer services, Chief Executive Jim Palmer says the council can help, provided the fault lies between the house and the road.

“Where the fault lies on the section itself, and where our staff are still working in the area it makes sense for us to do what we can to effect the repair rather than a homeowner having to wait for a tradesman to get to them, given some have been waiting several days already for services to be restored.

“Any issues either inside or under a house, however, will need to be addressed by a plumber.”
If the water break is inside, or under the house, the council can put a temporary tap at the boundary so homeowners can get water and run a hose to the house while they wait for a plumber if they want to.

Any homeowners wanting a temporary tap or have a break between your house and the property boundary, or don’t know where the break is, should call the council on (03) 311 8900.

Where anyone notices sewage overflowing through a gully trap, toilet or outside on the property, Jim Palmer says they should call the council immediately.

“We will visit and will most likely insert an inspection node into the sewer lateral (pipe from the home to the sewer main), water blast the pipe and use a camera to inspect it to determine what needs to be done to fix the problem.”

Because these will be emergency repairs homeowners should not expect reinstatement of any ground or paths that may need to be broken up. They will need to arrange for this to occur at a later date.

The council will not be repairing any storm water or drainage breaks on properties. Homeowners will need to call a drain layer.