Water woes ebb away
No water means no coffee.
And where there’s no coffee, there are no customers and hence no income at the Crazee Cow Cafe.
The Morrinsville cafe was one of dozens of businesses returning to normality yesterday after a cracked pipe put the town on severe water restrictions and forced many businesses to shut their doors.
At the Crazee Cow, it meant no caffeine, no washing dishes and no bottles of cold water for thirsty customers.
Despite all of this and a loss of $1500 on Sunday, owner Julia Shields was more worried about other people having enough water to get through.
‘‘In a small community like this, we look after each other and band together,’’ she said.
The Waikato town’s water supply became critically low on Saturday about
1pm, due to a major leak in the main steel pipe running from Scott Rd to the water reservoir on Mt Misery.
The leak was found after water pressure dropped significantly in very little time.
Urgent repair work by Kaimai Valley Services and other contractors, including Kaiser Ag and Fibre Networks NZ, took place on Saturday and Sunday, with most areas in Morrinsville without water for most of the day and warnings to run the tap only for cooking and urgent needs.
The cracked section of the steel pipe, which was only 40 years into an 80- to
100-year lifespan, was removed and temporarily replaced to get the water flowing again. Matamata-Piako District Council water and waste water manager Scott Collinge said there were no warning signs and whether it would happen again was the million-dollar question.
‘‘It’s one of those never say never situations,’’ he said.
A number of schools in the area were advised to close on Monday and Civil Defence and council staff delivered letters to residents and businesses advising of the situation. Water tankers were stationed at council offices and Morrinsville Intermediate for people to fill up bottles.
But by yesterday morning, the council had lowered the watering restriction in Morrinsville from level five to level four, meaning showering was allowed.
And once again it was business as usual at Crazee Cow Cafe, with people coming and going.
Council chief executive Don McLeod said it was a case of extremely bad luck rather than an underspend on infrastructure.
Collinge said it was a timely reminder that water is a precious commodity and people should think about having an emergency supply.
Three litres of drinking water per person and some for washing was advised, he said.
‘‘The Morrinsville community has been awesome throughout this. We had contractors just turn up to help out with the repair.’’
Water may remain cloudy due to air bubbles, but it is safe to drink.