Peter Wimsett, the Tararua District Council's manager of strategy and district development, said with Alliance expecting 1000 head of stock yesterday, the council was using tankers to ferry water into the works.
And as the water crisis hit again on Tuesday night, Mr Wimsett was ringing the Dannevirke Community Hospital, local eateries and rest homes to warn that water quality could be compromised.
"When we lose a basic infrastructure which is critical to daily life, it's important people are well informed," he said.
Mr Wimsett said there appears to be an air lock somewhere within the Dannevirke water reticulation.
"The team worked until 11.30pm on Tuesday night excavating up on Adelaide Rd, digging up two major underground valves between our number two reservoir and town to check things out.
"The gravity of the situation meant Blair King, our mayor Roly Ellis, an engineer and three of the water team were there as work progressed," he said.
An initial problem with a Clayton water valve more than a week ago left Dannevirke without water and the council was forced to put a total hosing ban in place as residents drained the Adelaide Rd reservoir which holds 4000cu m of water. In the continuing hot weather town residents had used between 6500 and 7000cu m of water, blowing the supply.
However, Mr King insists these ongoing problems weren't a failure in the water system which is fed by the Laws Rd impound system which holds 113,000cu m of water.
On Wednesday morning the number two reservoir was 44 per cent full, with the depth in the impound water supply at 10.2 m, Mr Wimsett said.
"Once again we're drawing directly from the Tamaki River and exceeding our consent under emergency measures," he said. "However the Cole and King St areas still had no water pressure yesterday morning."
And while the water crisis was the major talking point in Dannevirke, with many theories on why there's no water for showers, the daily cuppa and to run washing machines, Mr Wimsett said telementry data shows water was coming into the system, but was not making it to some households.
"We're urging people to conserve water to allow storage to build up," he said. "But to fix this problem we're probably going to have to bleed water from fire hydrants which may irritate some residents when they notice water flowing to waste, but it's a necessary process," he said.
However, for residents of Neptune St, to see sprinklers going every night at the Dannevirke A&P Showgrounds has been particularly galling.
"Sprinklers were even going on Tuesday night when we had a severe water problem and no water coming out of our taps," a resident said.
Brian Beale, the president of the Dannevirke and Districts A&P Association said he hadn't realised the town's water problems were continuing.
"I wasn't aware it was back in crisis again and I went to the showgrounds straight away and turned the sprinklers off immediately," he said. "I also apologised to the residents in Neptune St."
This was the fourth water problem for Dannevirke in the last two weeks and Frank Groube, who worked at council from 1976 until 2004, said if the line was maintained it's trouble free.
"This situation is a real mess," he said.
