A burst water main blew a hole in a Grey Lynn walking track this morning, spewing water and large rocks over 50 metres.
The burst main left a hole in the ground. Photo: RNZ / Matthew Theunissen
The water main, which services much of western central Auckland between the CBD and Western Springs, ruptured in Grey Lynn's Arch Hill Scenic Reserve early this morning.
Watercare is warning residents they may experience reduced water pressure over the next 24 hours or so until it's repaired.
The repairs would require them to access water valves along Tay Street, Great North Road and Ivanhoe Road, meaning some traffic disruption.
Contractors are working to isolate the broken section of pipe. Photo: RNZ / Matthew Theunissen
Ivanhoe Rd resident Meena Patel woke up at around 7am to find her water supply stopped.
"I went outside and saw heaps of water coming there," she said. "I can't describe it, just heaps of water. Very powerful."
No one's expected to be entirely without water due to the incident. Photo: RNZ / Matthew Theunissen
It left a crater - about a metre deep and three metres wide - across a tarred footpath in the park, which is heavily used by dog walkers, cyclists and others.
There was some surface flooding across a section of the park this afternoon and rocks the size of cricket balls had been blasted onto Ivanhoe Rd.
Workers at the site said they'd managed to isolate the damaged section off pipe so repairs could begin.
It could take about 24 hours to repair. Photo: RNZ / Matthew Theunissen
Watercare's central networks operations manager Andrew Deutschle said repairs would take up to 24 hours, during which time some residents could experience reduced water pressure.
"It's a reasonably significant failure," he said.
"It's a 550mm diameter water main [so] it's a good sized water main for the area that it supplies."
No one's expected to be entirely without water due to the incident.
Mr Deutschle said it's unclear at this stage what caused the rupture.