Residents in parts of Central Hawke's Bay can use their water indoors again after contractors repaired a damaged water line today.
Waipawa and Otane residents were told to conserve their water as contractors repaired a network pipe supplying water to the affected regions, and a leak was also detected at the Takapau reservoir.
It comes after a private contractor working on a private property hit the main water line feeding the reservoir for Waipawa and the main line to Otane this morning, the Central Hawke's Bay District Council said in a statement.
The repair team's efforts were focused on a two-metre section of pipe, but a 125-metre section of pipeline was potentially damaged in the incident, Central Hawke's Bay mayor Alex Walker said.
Ms Walker said while the line was repaired, it was still vulnerable to failure and asked communities to continue to conserve water over the next few days.
"Everyone can now use water indoors, but level 4 water restrictions are still in place in Waipawa and Otane, which means there’s a total ban on outdoor water use," Ms Walker said.
"While the towns are out of immediate danger of running out of water, there’s still a chance the line that feeds the Waipawa reservoir could fail again."
Ms Walker earlier called for residents to do everything they can to limit water usage, including minimising the flushing of toilets.
"We've got a total outdoor water use ban in place, but there’s plenty we can all do to limit our indoor water use – don’t use your washing machine or dishwasher, put off having a shower and taking a bath, and remember the old adage: "if it's yellow let it mellow" – don’t flush your toilet if you can get away with it,” Ms Walker said in a statement.
Contingency plans, including an alternative water line, are in place if the water line has any further failures, she said.
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