The missing water mystery
Around 12,000 litres of water has been disappearing from a tiny Taranaki town’s supply some nights – and it doesn’t seem to be a leak.
In fact, Stratford District Council staff have suspicions the drinking water in Midhirst, which has a population of little more than 200, is being stolen and they are investigating the ongoing disappearances.
The council’s services asset manager Mike Oien said the excessive, and random, water usage started last summer and sees around 4000 litres, which is around three times the volume of the average spa pool, being taken an hour throughout the night.
‘‘That is a lot for Midhirst. It’s only a town of about 70-odd connections.’’
The use of the water goes for three hour periods for about five consecutive nights and then it stops again.
‘‘It did stop over the winter period and it showed up again two weeks ago,’’ Oien said. ‘‘It’s a turn on suddenly, turn off suddenly, and that suggests it’s not just a leak.’’
Oien said because the water wasn’t disappearing at a constant rate it could mean it’s being stolen. It appears as though someone may have created their own connection to the Midhirst water main and is using a tap to control it, he said.
The council came across the mystery water disappearance in an annual check of water distribution. Oien said the council was investigating where the water was being taken from as it’s a ‘‘fineable’’ offence against a bylaw.
The water loss came up in conversation at the council’s December Audit and Risk Committee Meeting after it was mentioned in a report about performance measures not achieved in 2018.
In the meeting council chief executive Sven Hanne called the leak ‘‘erratic’’.
The council’s director of assets, Victoria Araba, said although summer months see a greater use of water, she didn’t think this was the case here.
‘‘Without actually knowing that, we can’t say someone is stealing water. We can only put it down as a leak right now, but we know that the pattern suggests that it’s an unauthorised peak in water use,’’ Araba said.
She said the main water pipes run through residential and rural areas so it was hard to distinguish where the water was being taken from.