Huge water leak in central Wellington

A water main has been fixed after it sent a stream of brown water gushing down Vivian Street on State Highway 1 in central Wellington.

In an update about 11.30pm Thursday, Wellington Water said that the water supply was now back on to about 30 buildings.

It took more than five hours to fix the pipe and a water tanker was brought in for people in apartments to use.

An RNZ reporter said earlier on Thursday that the right-hand lane on the one-way route was closed, after the force of the water buckled the road and cracked the pavement.

A man working nearby said he thought the council was putting in "a kayak lane" and lamented the impact on local businesses.

Another person working in a building on the street said water had been cut off and the majority of his work mates had been sent home for the day.

Wellington Water said a 150mm cast iron main burst outside 53 Vivian St just ahead of 2.30pm.

Traffic built up along the section of SH1 that ran through the central city towards the Basin reserve and Mt Victoria Tunnel.

NZ Transport Agency said due to flooding, the right-most lane between Taranaki Street and Tory Street was blocked.

The road was the southern part of State Highway One to the airport and eastern suburbs.

Motorists were warned to expect delays on Thursday afternoon as traffic on the major thoroughfare had to form a single file.

SH1 TE ARO, SOUTHBOUND - 3:15PM
Due to flooding, the right most lane between Taranaki St and Tory St is now BLOCKED. Expect DELAYS when travelling through the area. ^EH pic.twitter.com/TnJqRCnM4T

— NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi - Wellington (@nztawgtn) October 17, 2024

Wellington Water said in a statement it had responded to a burst main on Vivian Street, in the suburb of Te Aro.

Just before 3pm it said it was assessing the shutdown area and water would soon be turned off.

"It is anticipated that service will be interrupted for at least five hours."

An hour later, it said a team had successfully isolated the drinking water pipe and they were progressing with the repairs.

A man working nearby alluded to the city's cycle lanes controversy, saying he thought the council was putting in a kayak lane, and lamented the impact on local businesses.

Another person working on a nearby building said water had been cut off for about half an hour, and most of his work mates sent home for the rest of the day.

Council contractors working with jackhammers had drained much of the flooding by 4pm.

Anne, owner of a nearby business, said the state of the city's infrastructure was "crazy".

"They should be fixing the leaks. They should not be doing the stupid things that they want to do like the Golden Mile. They should be prioritising basics, back to basics."

She said the council's decisions were impacting businesses and ratepayers unfairly.

"I don't know how they got in to be honest.

"It's not just this council, it's every council in New Zealand but this one is really bad. I think it's sad.

"We live in Upper Hutt and our [rates] have gone up 25 percent and insurances have gone up so much as well. You can see why people are struggling."

Judy Alexander said the leak was "just another day in Wellington".

"It makes me think that the council needs to be working on the water mains and not the Town Hall."

A worker in a nearby office building said the fault had cut off his office's water supply and they had sent employees home for the day.

He said the city's infrastructure had been neglected for too long.

The worker said he would support government intervention and the disestablishment of the current council if it would help get the work done.

"The council needs to be a lot more accountable as far as I'm concerned. There's just too much happening, too much money being spent. I mean the library, I think, was essential but the water needs to be sorted out. Not patch-up jobs.

"It's going to be inconvenient for a couple of years but it just needs to be done."

Kim, who lives a block from the leak, said she was heading home to see if here was any water left running in her building.

She said even if the infighting in the council could be addressed, it would not solve the challenges facing the water system across the city.

"I think it's a really complex issue. There's been decades of under-investment and we have this one council that has a lot of challenges - this is probably the biggest one - and I don't think it's going to get fixed any time soon - even if the infighting stops.

"It's always the stuff under the surface that people don't seem to really care about until it affects them," she said.