“We’ve found the leak, we’ve actually fixed the leak, we’ve then tried to flush the system out and it’s not working that well … and so we’re obviously working hard to overcome that problem.”
There was about 5km of concrete piping that was about 70 years old and may have been affected by the earthquake, Kirton said.
But it was in difficult-to-access terrain which was hard to flush out, he said.
“As soon as we get on top of the airlocks then we’ll be able to manufacture the water and then open the systems up for the town, but it’s certainly concerning.”
The water had been expected to be back on by Monday afternoon, but Kirton said that was no longer the case and he did not want to speculate on when it would be back on.
The water plant was brand new and the issue was actually getting the water to the plant, he said.
The emergency situation was worsening and staff would be dealing with that this morning, Kirton said.
“It could well be that we have an emergency situation to actually get water from elsewhere, through tankers or the like.”
It would take longer than expected to get the existing plant up and running, Kirton said.
It may be necessary to put an emergency water system in place before Ohakune’s regular system can be fixed, he said.
“So I can’t speculate whether it’s a state of emergency yet, but that’s one of the considerations, you know, whether we call on the Government for help to actually overcome the issue with our town.”
There was an influx of people in Ohakune at this time of year and there were businesses that wanted to be open and operating, Kirton said.
“So we’ve got to have a Plan B and we’ll take whatever measure it takes to make sure we actually get water to the households.”
There are emergency portaloos around the town currently and water tankers which could be used in emergency situations, Kirton said. A centre was being set up at the Ruapehu District Council where people could come and collect as much water as they liked.
Water was also being dropped off in some parts of the community, such as rest homes and motels, he said.
– RNZ