Rain tanks run dry as Aucklanders left waiting weeks for refills

February 5, 2020

Local water carriers told 1 NEWS some families have been without water for over two weeks.

Auckland residents using rain tanks have been left desperate, waiting weeks on end for water as demand surges across the city.  

New Zealand's biggest city has recorded its lowest rainfall in January since 1948, just seven per cent of the normal expected rainfall according to NIWA's latest report. 

Fire and Emergency New Zealand Principal Rural Fire Officer, Thomas Harre says Auckland is currently experiencing its driest conditions since 2013. 

Water carriers around the city have been swamped with calls from households desperately in need, some already going weeks with an empty tank. 

"I'm not the only one with 300 customers waiting, I've got a guy out at Kaukapakapa who has stopped taking orders, he's booked out until the end of March.

They're already booked for seven weeks and people just can't get water," says Garry Stevenson, owner of Healthy Water Tanks Ltd. 

A lack of access to water is a health concern says Stevenson, with some residents unable to even flush the toilet. 

"I've got 120 messages on my phone for example, that I just can't get to, so the impact must be huge. From my point of view I think it comes down to health and safety, they are not able to flush toilets and this type of thing if they have no running water."

Water flow rates have been reduced by two thirds at pump stations around the city according to Stevenson, with Watercare chaining off pumps so carriers can't increase the pressure. 

With no ways of improving it, the process takes much longer for water carriers to refill. 

However, Watercare believes the changes should only take carriers "an extra five minutes for a tanker to be filled". 

They provide 11 pump stations across the region but only nine are in operation after two were made to close in an effort to ease the strain on the city's water system. 

Healthy Water Tanks' Operations Manager, Abbey Fouché says with less pump stations available and low water pressure, tankers are spending more time driving between pumps. 

"Now we are talking about a huge tanker driving from Silverdale over to Kaukapakapa, loaded up with water just to do one load, to then come all the way back to load up again.

It's not realistic. It's extremely time consuming and a lot more expensive. I feel really, really sorry for these families," she told 1NEWS. 

Watercare says their first priority is to provide a reliable water supply to homes and businesses connected to their water network, as well as providing enough pressure for fire fighting purposes, especially during dry conditions. 

Ms Fouché says some families have had to resort to buying bottled water to flush toilets, showering at public swimming pools or moving in to a motel while their properties are without water.

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