Watercare head of service delivery Sharon Danks said Friday's water main burst knocked out the supply for a number of customers. Photo: 123RF
Taps have been running dry for the second day in a row for businesses and residents of Warkworth, north of Auckland.
A water main burst on Thursday, cutting supply to some in the town. While it was restored by the afternoon, another one burst on Friday morning.
While it was back on for most of the town by afternoon, residents have been told to conserve water - and prepare for it to happen again.
Some who did have water found it was brown.
Workers at a local takeaway shop said on Friday morning the tap water was cloudy.
A number of Watercare trucks could be seen driving around Warkworth, visiting affected sites.
A local motel told RNZ they lost water around 5.45am Friday and did not get it back till later in the afternoon.
Watercare head of service delivery Sharon Danks said Friday's water main burst knocked out the supply for a number of customers.
She told Midday Report it was a separate issue to the previous day's failure.
"They're both on significant mains which are reaching the end of their lives in Warkworth, but they're not connected to each other."
People are being urged to keep their water use down until the issue is completely sorted.
"Until the reservoir has recovered, which is up to about 80 percent, we would like customers to conserve water till the end of the day," said Danks.
She recommended customers avoid things like using water in the garden or washing until the supply had recovered, although she said they would be able to go about their day-to-day usage.
Watercare is planning to spend $1.1 billion over the next 10 years, replacing 45 percent of its water main assets.
Locals around town told RNZ they had not had issues with their water recently, and that Warkworth's water was usually more than reliable.
Meanwhile, Danks said until water infrastructure is replaced, things like this may keep happening.
"We will proactively replace some mains where we have concerns about, but unfortunately there will be some bursts until the ten year programme is rolled out."
It highlighted just how fragile parts of the water network were.