Residents, Western Bay council at odds over extended Te Puke water leak

A number of Te Puke residents are losing their patience as a leak on Western Bay of Plenty District Council property has been pouring out water ''24 hours a day for the last 13 weeks''

But the council says it was a minor leak and the pipe would be replaced next week.

However frustrated resident Bruce Brown said the water leak, which is in his neighbourhood, has been flowing since well before Christmas and despite a number of calls to the council, nothing has been done.

The leak is on Moehau St in the Te Puke township and was allegedly caused by a contractor muck up, he said.

Brown said he believes the amount of water that has been wasted down the kerbside, as a result, will be significant.

"The pressure would be that of three garden hoses going 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."

The guttering where the leak is has even developed algae from the constant flow of water, he said.

Brown said he has lodged one complaint online and his wife has also called the council twice about getting it fixed.

He said they were giving them it benefit of the doubt as it was over the Christmas and New Year Period, however now the couple have had enough.

"The council told my wife they were waiting for a part to fix the pipe, that was over a month ago."

This comes in the midst of a large dry spell in the Bay of Plenty region, with more than 20 days without significant rainfall and none in the forecast.

"The council can't tell me we are short of water," he said.

Another resident, who contacted the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend over the leak, also backed these views and has submitted complaints to the council also.

Frank Begley, from Western Bay of Plenty Council, said it was aware of the leak and had been monitoring it.

He said despite appearances, the leak was relatively minor.

"It's on a pipe that is being replaced shortly. Council has made a decision not to repair, as the cost of the lost water is considerably less than the cost to temporarily repair a pipe that will soon be abandoned."

The council estimates the leakage rate to be less than 500 litres a day so the cost is less than 50 cents per day against a full repair of the pipe estimated at $4500.

They said last time the Utilities team checked they had not seen any algae in the area.

The council could not comment on when the complaints first started, however, it confirmed it had received three recorded customer inquiries and some phone calls about the issue over the last couple of days.

A replacement pipe has been installed and the connection of the new pipe and disconnection of the leaking concrete pipe is scheduled to take place next week.

The Western Bay of Plenty does not currently have any water restrictions in place however, they are encouraging residents to conserve water where they can.

This comes just over a week after the Tauranga City Council announced a full ban on sprinkler use.

The restrictions came after demand reached upwards of 52 million litres a day - a 30 per cent rise on average consumption.

The Big Dry:

- 23 days with no significant rainfall

- Total fire ban in place.

Forecast:

Today Partly cloudy with a chance of an afternoon shower - High: 24C

Tomorrow: Cloudy periods - High: 26C

Monday: Mainly fine - High: 28C