Water leaking for five weeks

By Frank Neill

Water has been leaking from a fire hydrant in Rakaia Grove for “at least five weeks” outside his home, Sambol Bhattacharjee says.

And it was still leaking when this issue of the “Wainuiomata News” went to print.

“I have contacted the Hutt City Council about it. I have called them four times but nothing has happened,” Mr Bhattacharjee says.

“It seems to me nobody is caring.

“It makes me really upset because of so much water we are losing.

“They tell us in summer not to use our hoses, but look at this,” he says, pointing to the water running from the fire hydrant.

The grass verge in front of his house was completely waterlogged when the “Wainuiomata News” visited on 16 March.

The verge was so sodden that Mr Bhattacharjee has not been able to mow it. In addition some of the grass around the fire hydrant appeared to be dying.

This leak was first reported to our team on 22 February, the Hutt City Council told the “Wainuiomata News”.

“We have since received two further enquiries regarding the leak at this address.

“A contractor visited the site of the leak on 27 February to assess the size and significance of the leak.

“The team at Wellington Water and their subcontractors are working at capacity. 181 leaks have been fixed in Lower Hutt over the last month, and 1,620 leaks have been fixed in our city since July 2022.

“Leaks must be prioritised based on which ones are experiencing the highest amounts of water loss, cause loss of supply to customers, risk public safety or have a high risk of causing damage to property.

“This means that some leaks can take longer to repair and may stay visible for longer.

“If the water leak gets significantly worse, we encourage customers to get in touch and an emergency team can be dispatched to attend.

“We ask residents to please be patient. The Wellington Water crews are making steady progress and the Wellington Water team have confirmed that the leak at 17 Rakaia Grove Wainuiomata is in their system and programmed for repair,” the council said.