This morning [Sunday 5 February], residents in Swanson who had been experiencing water supply issues since Thursday evening [2 February] woke up to discover that water was flowing through their taps once again.
On Thursday, a slip along Scenic Drive had caused two watermains to break. This led to a water outage in Swanson, affecting up to 250 properties. We deployed tankers to the area to supply emergency water while repairs were carried out.
Operations engineer George Sio says the crews have laid two temporary watermains to supply the Te Henga Reservoir as well as residents.
“Ever since the storm hit, our number one priority has been making sure our customers have safe drinking water flowing through their taps.
“This issue cropped up on Thursday night, when a slip along Scenic Drive took out two watermains.
“It’s been tough going because the road is in a bad state, but our crews have managed to lay two temporary watermains to get water back on to customers.
“I’m thankful to have awesome contractors who worked with us overnight to get everything welded, disinfected and back in service by morning. And I’m thankful that the Swanson community have been so patient and understanding since the slip occurred.”
This slip was not the first on Scenic Drive to affect west Auckland’s water supply. On the night of the storm [Friday 27 January], another slip washed away a 30-metre-long section of watermain. This caused over 3000 homes in Titirangi, Konini, Oratia and parts of Glen Eden to be without water. While service has been restored to these customers,
they are still strongly encouraged to keep their water use to a minimum for another week until a more robust solution is in place.