All three of Whangarei’s Water Treatment Plants are now back in operation and residents are asked to keep saving water for a few more days to allow stocks of clean water to recover.

“We're thrilled to report steady progress on our water-saving mission to refill our reservoirs, after the weekend's severe storm disabled water-treatment plants,” says Whangarei District Council CE Rob Forlong.

“We were able to do this because of fantastic public efforts to save water, and because the Poroti Treatment Plant has been repaired and brought back online. We still need to save water - at least 20% compared to normal - so we're inviting the whole city to skip a load of washing and dress-down in their "back of the closet" outfits tomorrow!”

Updated reservoir levels as at 7am this morning:

Fairway Drive 53%

Kamo 70%

Onerahi 46%

Anzac 47%

“If we can keep up the water-saving efforts we're aiming to hit 80% in these reservoirs and then it will be safe to ease back restrictions,” says Mr Forlong.

Mr Forlong says the clean-up continues today around the District following the extreme weather event of July 17-18, which weather scientists have described as a one in 500 year event. More than 200mm of rain fell in Whangarei in a 12-hour period, causing widespread flooding and damage to roads, parks and the District’s wastewater and stormwater systems.

“There is no doubt this was a massive weather event for Whangarei - the biggest in living memory. It will take us weeks, if not months to repair all the damage around the place.”

Mr Forlong says 10 roads remain closed around the District, seven due to slips, two to flooding and one due to an unsafe bridge. One of the worse affected roads is Matapouri Rd, where there are 16 slips to clear in the section between Kaiatea Rd to Sandy Bay. This work is expected to take around 2 weeks. A further 32 roads are still down to one lane and people should drive with caution.

“At the moment our priority is on getting our closed roads open, so we are asking residents to be patient if their roads has not been fully cleared yet. We will get there but we are working on the most urgent roads where residents have no access to their properties and will prioritise other roads.”

LINK TO FACEBOOK EVENT FOR DISTRICT-WIDE MUFTIDAY: https://www.facebook.com/events/1011905805933456/

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