Support arrives in race to restore Ohakune water supply

Author: Noam Mānuka Lazarus,
Publish Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2026, 1:20pm

Bottled water is being distributed to Ohakune residents.

Extra support has been brought in to help restore the water supply to Ohakune.

Ruapehu District Council says it is still targeting having the water back on by 5pm today.

The magnitude-5.9 earthquake on July 25 damaged a pipeline supplying the town’s water treatment plant, Ruapehu District Council said.

Repair work on Friday resulted in an airlock, preventing raw water from reaching the treatment plant.

Residents and visitors were asked to conserve water until further notice.

They were alerted on Saturday to stop all non-essential use and not to flush their toilets after the reservoir dropped from 70% to 12% overnight.

By Sunday, taps started to run dry, the council said, and residents were told not to use taps or flush toilets.

The council set up six water collection points and four portaloo locations around town.

The Ministry of Health said the water would be prioritised for residential premises and that restaurants and cafes may need to close if they couldn’t implement their Business Continuity Plans (BCP) safely.

Mountain Kebabs owner Philip Gerbault said they were open and things were “normal”.

“The coffee machine is not going, but that’s about it,” he said.

“The council’s done pretty well, there’s been plenty of water available. I’m sure they’ll get it fixed as soon as they can.”

Owner of the Alpine Motel, Dara, who only wanted to go by her first name, said it was having a big impact on them.

“We got through the busy weekend in town, but now we’re having people ringing saying ‘oh, I hear the town’s got no water, we’re not coming’.

“So, we’re now dealing with all the cancellations.

“The major thing for us as a business and as residents is that the communication hasn’t been the greatest, to be fair. We’re not getting updated regularly.

“I know they don’t know how long, but to hear that it was caused by the earthquakes, but they’ve only just noticed two or three weeks later, there’s more to it, I think.”

Additional staff and resources were brought in from Whanganui, Auckland and Central Hawke’s Bay to help with the repairs and support the community, the council said.

“Restoring the supply has been complicated by sections of the raw water pipeline being buried and located in heavy bush, making valves difficult to find,” the council said.

Water services contractor Veolia was releasing trapped air from the system by installing new valves and working to reduce the time it would take water to reach the town’s properties.

“Residents are asked to ensure all taps inside their properties are turned off while the network is being restored,” the council said.

“When water first returns, it may have a milky appearance. This is caused by harmless air bubbles trapped in the water as the network is recharged and is not a cause for alarm.”

Noam Mānuka Lazarus (Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara) is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle.