Selwyn Water reviews response to burst water main in central Rolleston

Selwyn Water will review its response after its first major operational test that had parts of Rolleston without water for almost eight hours.

A 30-year-old water main burst in central Rolleston around 11:30am on Monday, with crews taking until 8pm to restore supply after encountering difficulties isolating the damaged section of the network.

Selwyn Water chief executive Alex Cabrera said a failure occurred at a joint in the pipework.

"The repair took longer than expected because crews first needed to isolate the affected section of the network.

"This involved systematically locating and testing a number of valves, including a buried valve and a valve that was found to be broken.

"The volume of water from the burst main also meant the road needed to be closed while crews worked to isolate the main and complete the repair."

Contractors will need to return to finish the repair, with Selwyn Water saying it will work directly with affected customers and keep them informed, he said.

Selwyn Water Limited is currently in its first year of operation managing the district's drinking water and wastewater networks.

Cabrera said an incident management plan is in place, and the response was managed in line with that plan.

"While the outage affected a number of properties, it was not classified as a major incident.

"We will review our operational response and customer communications from this outage and consider any lessons that can strengthen our response to future incidents."

The need for an alternative water supply "was continually assessed throughout the day".

"Different properties were affected at different times throughout the day and where customers are expected to be without water for more than eight hours, we look at providing an alternative water supply, such as a water tanker.

"This was not required for this outage.

"There were no businesses identified as being affected by the outage."

He also stamped out suggestions that residents would be charged for the water that ended up running down the road.

"Water meters only register usage when water passes through the meter to the property. If no water is passing through the meter, no water usage is being recorded, even if a tap is turned on. No customers would have been charged as a result of the outage."

"Selwyn Water also maintains a register of medically dependent customers and works directly with these customers if they are affected by a water outage."

The outage and updates were communicated "through several channels, our website, water outages map, and social media channels, while customer services and after-hours teams can also respond to enquiries".

"We will continue looking for ways to strengthen the reach of our communications, particularly during larger outages."

Selwyn Water's Facebook page, as a new company, only has 682 followers and had to rely on members of the public sharing it through local community pages.