Major leak on Awatere rural water main – residents urged to conserve water immediately

Residents in Seddon and the wider Awatere area are being urged to conserve water as council engineers work to locate and repair a major leak in the Awatere water main.

The leak is affecting the supply to Seddon and surrounding areas, including Seaview, Grassmere and rural Awatere south of the river.

Marlborough Waters establishment chief executive Richard Coningham says the leak may be in a section of pipe beneath the river bed, making repairs more difficult.

“Unfortunately it appears the leak may be in the pipe where it travels underneath the river bed. This means it may be challenging to fix,” Richard says.

“We expect the fix is going to take at least 48 hours. However we don’t know exactly what the problem is at this stage – it will take a bit of time to pinpoint the problem.”

Council engineers have been in contact with contractors to begin work early tomorrow morning.

“It’s quite likely water will need to be tankered in to supply Seddon township if we can’t fix the leak quickly. Residents are strongly encouraged to conserve water as much as possible for at least the next 48 hours.”

Further updates are expected tomorrow morning.

Residents in the rural Awatere and Dashwood areas, excluding Seddon, are also reminded to boil their water as the supply does not currently meet the requirements of the Water Services Act 2021.