Water leak causes Rarangi boil notice

North Rarangi residents on the water scheme have been notified to boil or treat water after a major leak Wednesday night.

Earliest estimates of having the restoration of water to Rarangi is late tomorrow afternoon, but the boil water notice noted it could well take into next week depending on the scale of the leak.

Rarangi township’s volunteer fire station, staffed by the area's Civil Defense, has drinkable water and is offering showers at the station for people in need, as the water tanks get repaired.

There is a possibility of being able to supply water twice a day for an hour or so, but residents are asked to save their water and use only after reaching a rolling boil for at least 2 minutes or otherwise treat water until further notice.

Written notice has also been delivered to all affected letterboxes, with another to be issued when the requirement is lifted.

The storage tanks were nearly empty on assessment, so both well pumps are running with the filtration and UV treatment systems bypassed to refill the tanks as fast as possible before conducting a leak test.

"It's good that people know they can come to their local fire station when they are in need, and we're able quickly set up a base for people who need us", said Rarangi Chief Fire Officer Steve Banks.

"It is an old system and we don't know how bad it quite is yet, but the volunteer water committee is working hard to solve the issue".