It may have looked spectacular but the geothermal activity in Kuirau Park yesterday was just routine maintenance.
Steam and water was pumping out of the bore for about 45 minutes yesterday morning "blowing it clean", according to Garry Brown from Rotorua Well Drilling.
Mr Brown said the work was part of routine maintenance but he admitted it looked pretty impressive.
He said it was a case of drilling out the silica to the bore, which supplied the aquatic centre.
If the bore was not cleaned out every two to three years, it could become blocked.