She turned to social media to work out what was happening, finding other locals were also without water.
At 9am, the council told residents not to flush their toilets and said emergency portaloos were being set up around the township. Drinking water was also being distributed at several locations.
“Council and contractor staff have been working to resolve the air lock preventing raw water from reaching the Water Treatment Plant. This involves working up the length of the raw water line toward the plant to clear all the air,” it wrote on social media this evening.
Sophie, who has two young children and does not drive, said getting to a portaloo was not straightforward.
“We’ve been really lucky that fresh drinking water has been supplied, but I can’t just pick up my two kids if they need to go and be like, ‘yeah, hang on, we’ll go to the port-a-loos around the town’.
“So I’ve been having to walk a couple of hundred metres to the creek, fill up buckets and watering cans and I’m doing that to fill my toilet.”
She said the situation felt like “we’re living in … some crazy ages” and her heart went out to kaumātua (older people) who might struggle to get to a portaloo.
“Even families with younger kids than my own, it’s not ideal.
An Ohakune mother is using water from her local creek to flush her toilet as the town faces a water crisis.
The water supply is not expected to be restored until about 5pm tomorrow, affecting students and businesses.
Water may begin flowing earlier but will not be safe to drink, with residents advised to boil tap water until supplies are fully restored, the council said.
Ruapehu College and Ohakune Primary School will be closed tomorrow, saying Ministry of Education guidelines prevented them from operating without functioning bathrooms, flushing toilets and safe running water.
Meanwhile, New World Ohakune, the town’s only major supermarket, has limited purchases of bottled water and bulk pack purchases, with further deliveries expected tomorrow.
Sophie said the effects also reached hospitality providers, with weekends “one of the busiest times” for motels and restaurants.
Bottled water is being distributed to Ohakune residents amidst a water outage.
“It’s a huge impact especially when that’s something that our town relies on. We rely on the people coming through or skiing at the maunga [mountain],” she said.
She questioned whether residents could have been given more notice.
“Why wasn’t there any prior warning days or potentially a week or so ago that there was an issue or that there was a potential problem underlying?
“People might have been able to travel out of town to go and stay with relatives or with friends or there might have been something else to make it a little bit easier.”