Burst pipe floods Wellington’s Kent Terrace, water outage for nearby businesses and residents

Wellington Water is encouraging residents to store water in case a repair to a burst water main is unsuccessful.

Motorists have been asked to avoid Kent Tce since early today when the burst main flooded the road between Vivian St and Buckle St.

A shutdown of water in the area was expected to impact businesses in Courtenay Plc, Kent Tce and Cambridge Tce.

Crews have now excavated around the burst pipe but Wellington Water said in a statement there was some uncertainty as to whether repairs would be successful.

“If it is not, the shutdown and low-pressure area may widen to include a larger portion of the eastern CBD and may extend overnight. To err on the side of caution, we would like to encourage residents to store water now.”

Water tankers will be deployed to the affected areas if a wider shutdown is necessary.

Elevated properties in Mount Victoria, Roseneath and Hataitai are also impacted.

A spokesperson this morning said the major repair would take 8-10 hours.

“We’re asking people to avoid the area if possible, and if not please expect delays.

“We appreciate this is a main route so are doing all we can to minimise impact on commuters.”

Kent Terrace runs parallel to Cambridge Terrace and is a main arterial route connecting Wellington city with the Mount Victoria tunnel, and past the Basin Reserve to Newtown.

Travellers needing to get to or from the airport have been advised to drive via Oriental Bay rather than through the Mt Victoria tunnel.

Wellington’s water pipes have hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons over the past few years, plagued by leaks, overflows and burst watermains.

Wellington Water says some pipes are 120 years old and deteriorating in combination with blockages from wet wipes, fats and oils.

The ‘ideal renewal rate’ for the water authority is to replace 100 kilometres of pipes every year.

But last year it was revealed only 18km had been replaced in the 2022/23 period to July.

At the time Wellington Water chief executive Tonia Haskell admitted they were behind and laid the blame partly on councils not investing enough money in the problem.

In March this year, a damning performance report suggested the cost to fix the city’s leaks had dramatically increased, and Wellington Water was lagging behind performance targets set by the Department of Internal Affairs.

This summer, the region faced running out of water as 44% of drinking water was lost through leaks.

Haskell abruptly quit as chief executive two weeks ago.