Lake Hawea township water back to normal

The Lake Hawea Township water supply is now back to normal, with both pumps fully operational, Queenstown Lakes District Council utilities committee chairman John Mann said.

Contractors were alerted to the failure of one of the two Lake Hawea Township pumps at 1.30am on November 26. Since that time a watering restriction has been imposed on the township with a temporary urgent water conservation notice issued last Saturday when a water leak further depleted the supply. The leak was detected and repaired on the same day.

The team had worked hard to ensure the situation was resolved in time for the Christmas influx. The replacement had its challenges, with the pump located under water.

Councillor Mann also expressed his gratitude to the people of Lake Hawea, who had responded well to the call for water conservation over the last two weeks.

“The good news is that we are now able to lift the hand held hose watering restriction but there is a proviso,” Mr Mann said.

In all parts of the district, given the continuing hot weather, an element of water conservation applied.

“This applies to Lake Hawea as much as it applies to all households throughout the Lakes District. We ask that people try and limit water use and restrict watering gardens to the evenings and early morning to optimise soakage. In these conditions some common sense needs to apply and we can all do our bit,” Mr Mann said.

The defective pump would be repaired if possible and kept as a back-up.