Residents in Muriwai, Helensville and Wellsford urged to reduce water use now: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts local treatment plants and reservoirs

Residents in Muriwai, Helensville and Wellsford are being urged to reduce their water use immediately as Cyclone Gabrielle has knocked out power, communication systems and/or access to their water treatment plants and water storage reservoirs.

The three water treatment plants are offline. Incident controller Nigel Toms says the plants have generators available however staff are unable to access the plants due to roading issues.

“Currently, residents in these areas have safe drinking water flowing through their taps. However, their local water storage reservoirs have the potential to run dry if they do not reduce their water use immediately.

“Early this morning, we sent crews to restart the plants. Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to access the sites due to roading issues. We are liaising with Auckland Emergency Management to see if there is a way to provide safe access.

“In the meantime, we are urging residents in Muriwai, Helensville and Wellsford to reduce their water use immediately. They can still use water for drinking, hand washing and toilet flushing purposes. But they should not use their washing machines or dishwashers. And if they can hold off on showering, that would be helpful.”

“Our aim is to reduce the likelihood of water outages in these areas, and we can all work together to make this happen.”

“I’d like to reiterate that the water in your taps is safe to drink. If anyone in Auckland is without water or has low water pressure, please check our website for updates on known outages and/or pressure issues. If your area is not already listed, please let us know by reporting a fault on our website.”

Running updates on the impact of the cyclone are available on the Watercare website.

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