Damage to mail leads to urgent water shutdown

Unintentional damage to a steel water main yesterday afternoon led to an urgent water shutdown in the Gorge Road area, Queenstown Lakes District Council project manager Steve Hewland said.

The top of a section of pipe was damaged by a milling machine, which was being used to grind up the road surface as part of the current Gorge Road upgrade. In order to make repairs to the pipe, water was shutdown to the section of Gorge Road between Sawmill Road and Industrial Place and Gorge Road’s side streets including Bowen Street, Kiely Lane and Industrial Lane. Sawmill Road was unaffected.

“The damaged section of pipe was cut out and replaced with a piece of PVC pipe as a temporary measure,” said Mr Hewland. “Water was reinstated to the area at 3.40 am. A permanent repair will take place in the near future using a specially fabricated piece of steel pipe. This will be a planned operation and will most likely take place at night to avoid inconveniencing residents.”

Council staff went door to door around the affected area yesterday afternoon advising residents and businesses of the shutdown. A water tanker was also brought in to provide potable water.

“We will be talking to our contactors and investigating the incident further, “said Mr Hewland.