Burst pipe leaves part of Wellington CBD without water

A large portion of Wellington's CBD is without water after a water pipe burst.

Wellington Water issued an alert just before 8am Thursday and said the outage was affecting at least 100 properties around Waring Taylor Street, Queens Wharf and Hunter Street.

A Wellington Water spokesperson said it was setting up water tankers at the corner of Johnston and Featherston Streets, on the waterfront and on Waring Taylor Street.

Residents and business owners are advised to bring their own containers.

Anyone who was in the affected area was advised they would not have toilet facilities and would have to go outside the zone to use public facilities.

One northbound lane on Customhouse Quay has been cordoned off while crews work on fixing the pipe.

Wellington Water is advising drivers to avoid the area. It aimed to have the water restored later on Thursday afternoon or evening.

Mayor Tory Whanau said it followed decades of underinvestment.

She said the capital desperately needed to upgrade its pipes, which was why the council had increased funding for water by 27 percent in this year's budget.

She said she had been assured would will have the water restored in the afternoon.

Wellington Water said it aimed to have the water restored later this afternoon or early evening.

Wellington Water said after investigation it appeared the area affected by the water outage was bigger than initially thought.

At 12.30pm Wellington Water said it had restored the water supply to Queens Wharf which allowed hospitality venues to reopen.

As water came back on residents were advised to run a cold tap for a few minutes to remove any possible discolouration or air bubbles in the pipes.

About midday, RNZ's reporter on the scene said that most of the businesses in the affected area had been closed and workers sent home.