Wellington almost ran out of water at the weekend, saved by last-minute emergency repairs on the city's main water pipe.
"We came pretty close yesterday to sending out a call asking Wellingtonians to cut back water use to only the bare essentials," says acting Wellington Water CEO Mark Kinvig.
It's believed November's earthquake damaged a valve leading off the main pipe.
Teams worked overnight on Friday to locate and repair the leak. Repairs were resumed on Sunday, in the bottom of a 4m-deep hole next to the Wellington Railway Station.
"There's really only one main supply pipe into central and eastern Wellington, and this was it," says Mr Kinvig.
People should store enough water at home for at least seven days, to take care of their health and hygiene in case the water goes out, Mr Kinvig says.
"We know that the foreshore area suffered the worst, and our pumping stations and pipelines in the port area suffered damage in the November 14 quake," says Gary O'Meara, Wellington Water's general of network operations and customer service.
"When our guys cut through the concrete road base where the leak was, they found a big hole. It's clearly been leaking for a while."
It was touch and go on Friday night whether Wellington would have enough water on Saturday morning, as the two main storage reservoirs supplying the central and eastern suburbs slowly emptied out in the evening peak. Operators worked hard to re-route supply, but it was never going to be enough.
"If we hadn't fixed it by 6am yesterday, we would have had to ask people to ease off. And if the leak had happened further up the pipe, near Ngauranga, we would have had major issues," Mr O'Meara says.
The earthquake and after effects such as this were a wake-up call for people and businesses to plan for the loss of water supply, said Mr Kinvig.
The vulnerability of Wellington's water supply is well known. Plans to improve systems include building a 35 million-litre reservoir in Prince of Wales Park, and for an alternative pipeline into the city. Both these projects will cost over $10 million.
Mr Kinving says people in the Thorndon area may notice a slight drop in pressure as they drain the pipes.
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