Wellington.Scoop
After dealing with four burst water mains last week, Wellington Water was yesterday called to a burst watermain in the CBD. It proved difficult to repair, and late this morning we were told the work would take four days to complete. Then this afternoon: another burst water main, this one in Cuba Street.

Early yesterday afternoon the council-owned water company advised that its crews were responding to a burst watermain on Willis Street. The site was being assessed for any traffic management requirements.

And then at 4.45:
Due to the location of the leak outside 217-219 Willis Street, we cannot fix this until 8pm tonight. Traffic management will be onsite from 7.30pm and we ask people to take care.

Towards the end of the night, things started to get difficult.

Burst water pipe – Willis Street – 10pm – Traffic management is in place and we are exposing the broken pipe now. Please note there is likely to be some noise while we open up the road. We are anticipating turning the water off at approximately 23:00 so we can work on the repair.

— Wellington Water (@WgtnWaterOutage) December 1, 2020

⚠Burst water pipe – Willis Street – 2am⚠ We have encountered problems tracing the site of broken pipe. Work has stopped for tonight, excavation will continue during daylight hours. An updated schedule of work will follow in the morning.

— Wellington Water (@WgtnWaterOutage) December 1, 2020

By 11am this morning, no updated schedule of work had been provided. And the burst pipe in the CBD was not mentioned on Wellington Water’s website.

However, at 11.10:

⚠BURST WATER PIPE, WILLIS STREET, WLG – UPDATE 11:10am⚠
Our team have planned works today. Water will be shut off between 1:00pm and 3:00pm to allow the connection. This will not affect customers, with the apartment building being supplied water via a temporary hydrant.

— Wellington Water (@WgtnWaterOutage) December 1, 2020

Further advice from Wellington Water about the Willis Street problem:

There may be a slight drop in water pressure in the area. There will be minor disruption to traffic whilst this work is being undertaken. Work on the full replacement will take approximately 4 days.

And then this afternoon:

⚠BURST WATERMAIN, CUBA STREET, WELLINGTON – 2:50PM⚠
Crews are responding to a burst watermain on the corner of Cuba Street and Manners Street, Wellington. Our crews are preparing to shut off service to the area.
We will provide further updates as work continues.

— Wellington Water (@WgtnWaterOutage) December 2, 2020

⚠BURST WATERMAIN, CUBA STREET, WELLINGTON – UPDATE 3:45PM⚠
We will be shutting the water off at 5:00pm with approximately 30 properties affected. We will have bottled water available for those affected by the shutdown. It is anticipated service will be restored at 10:00pm. pic.twitter.com/R6ZZHKmUdN

— Wellington Water (@WgtnWaterOutage) December 2, 2020

⚠REPAIRED – BURST WATERMAIN, CUBA STREET, WELLINGTON – UPDATE 6.53PM⚠ Our team has repaired the burst pipe. Service is restored to all customers. Please run a cold tap until air pockets and cloudy water has run clear, before using hot taps, dishwashers and washing machines. https://t.co/3fmRTXvlu8

— Wellington Water (@WgtnWaterOutage) December 2, 2020