Repair work on a waste-water pipe that ruptured causing thousands of litres of sewage to pour into Lake Taupō has started and is expected to take a number of weeks to complete.
An aerial view of the washout into Lake Taupō. Photo: Supplied / Darryll Ranford, Helicopter Services BOP
A water main broke on Tuesday causing a washout on Lake Terrace.
A short time later the footpath collapsed and took out a wastewater pipe sending about 800,000 litres of sewage into the lake.
The Taupō District Council engineers have been working on the design for a new bypass pipe.
Its chief executive Gareth Green said the work was likely to take between two-to-three weeks.
"We've got many people on the ground starting construction work for the bypass pipes.
"The best minds in the country working on that through design and construction and it is all going well to date."
Taupō residents will still need to conserve water and restrict flushing to take pressure off the waste-water system while the pipe is being repaired.
Mr Green said there had been a 15 percent drop in the volume of waste-water since the plea went out to locals last week.
"That is down to the help the community have given."
He said work on repairing the eroded bank was expected to take between six and eight weeks.
While work was happening on both the pipe and the bank, the road at the corner of Lake Terrace and Tongariro Street would remain closed.
A rāhui will remain in place until further notice following the massive sewage spill into Lake Taupō.
The rāhui was put in place by the Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board and restricts access to parts of the northern end of Lake Taupō and the upper Waikato River.
The rāhui also restricts public access to the immediate location of the spill.
E coli levels remain in the lake near where the sewage flowed in but are now within recreational levels in the upper reaches of the Waikato River which flows from Lake Taupō.