Council told to f ix leaks and save water

Wellington residents have taken exception to being told to conserve water while leaky pipes remained broken for months.

Wellington City Council (WCC) posted on Neighbourly on Wednesday reminding people water restrictions were in place across the city until April 7.

Several people responded by saying water pipes in their suburbs had been leaking for months, wasting huge amounts of water.

‘‘How about you fix the broken water main that’s been leaking thousands of litres of fresh water down Huntleigh Park Way for three months,’’ one Ngaio resident said.

‘‘I too have contacted WCC about Huntleigh Way Park,’’ another said.

‘‘If we are expected to save water, they too should come to the party.’’

Another said the leak had lasted two months and had been reported by many residents.

‘‘It has now lifted roading and you can hear it flowing down the street.’’

There were also complaints about leaks in Thorndon, central Wellington, and Island Bay.

A Neighbourly user reported yesterday afternoon that maintenance workers had finally arrived to begin work on the Ngaio leak.

A Wellington Water spokesperson said the leak was first reported in mid-November.

It was initially categorised as low priority, but had since become worse and was now a high priority, the spokesperson said.

‘‘We appreciate this can be a bit frustrating for customers, especially if they have reported the leak earlier.’’

The company had an increased number of urgent leaks to fix in December, which meant many less urgent repairs were put on hold. Those repairs were often all dealt with at the same time to save on costs.

It would have extra staff on deck from next week to catch up.

Repairs were prioritised depending on the type of leak, where it was, how much was leaking, and whether it was public or private land.

‘‘In general, we typically see an increase in interest in water leaks over summer, which can make it seem like they are not being addressed as promptly as they should be.’’

The company was unable to confirm how much water had been lost through the leaky Ngaio pipe.