Seddon residents urged to ‘conserve water immediately’ after major leak

Residents in the Marlborough town of Seddon are being urged to “conserve water immediately” following a major leak in a key water main this morning.

Marlborough District Council said council engineers were working to pinpoint and fix the major leak in the Awatere water main which supplies the town of Seddon and surrounding area, including Seaview, Grassmere and rural Awatere south of the river.

Earlier investigations indicated the problem may be associated with the section of the water main that crosses beneath the Awatere River, which could make the repair complex.

In an update at 9am, the council said “the Rural Awatere supply water storage tanks are now empty, while the Seddon water supply tank is at approximately 40% capacity”.

Marlborough Waters establishment chief executive Richard Coningham said conserving the remaining water supply was “the most important thing residents could do right now”.

“We need everyone connected to the affected supply to use as little water as possible. Please keep water use to essential drinking, cooking and hygiene needs only,” Coningham said.

“Every bit of water people can save today will help us maintain the available supply while crews continue searching for the leak, and we bring in additional drinking water to the area.”

People were also asked to avoid all non-essential water use, including watering gardens and washing vehicles.

In an update at 10am, Council said water was being trucked in to replenish storage tanks and maintain essential supplies.

“Residents on the rural Awatere supply must continue to boil their water, and Seddon residents are now also being advised to boil their water as a precaution while trucked water is being used to replenish the Seddon storage tank,” Conningham said.

Water being trucked into the area would be used to refill the storage tanks, and would then be supplied to properties through the normal network.

“Trucking water into the area means we can begin replenishing both the rural Awatere tanks and the Seddon tank while crews continue working on the leak,” Coningham added.

“However, we still need everyone connected to these supplies to use as little water as possible.”

The precautionary boil water notice would remain in place until Council advised otherwise.

Council was also working to make the Awatere Memorial Hall in Seddon available as a drinking water collection point for rural Awatere residents. People would need to bring their own clean containers to fill.

Residents in the rural Awatere and Dashwood areas [not including Seddon] were reminded to boil their water as the supply does not currently meet the requirements of the Water Services Act 2021.