09/08/2026
Unfortunately, due to the Ohakune water outage, we’ll be closed tomorrow, Monday 10 August.
We’ll reopen once the water situation is sorted.💧
UPDATE MON 10 AUG 11.30AM
Council remains confident that Ohakune’s water supply will be restored by 5pm today.
Council’s water services contractor, Veolia, has brought in additional staff and resources from Whanganui, Auckland and Central Hawke’s Bay to help complete the repairs and support the community.
The outage followed repairs on Friday to the raw water pipeline damaged by the 5.9 magnitude earthquake on 25 July. The repair work resulted in an airlock that prevented raw water from reaching the treatment plant, leaving Ohakune without a reticulated water supply.
Restoring the supply has been complicated by sections of the raw water pipeline being buried and located in heavy bush, making valves difficult to find.
Veolia has since located additional hidden valves and is installing new valves to help release trapped air from the system.
Veolia has developed a plan for recharging the water network that includes introducing water from the treatment plant end of the system. This is expected to reduce the time people need to wait for water to reach their properties.
Veolia staff will also be stationed throughout the network with handheld testing equipment to confirm the water is potable.
Residents are asked to ensure all taps inside their properties are turned off while the network is being restored.
When water first returns, it may have a milky appearance. This is caused by harmless air bubbles trapped in the water as the network is recharged and is not a cause for alarm.
Council thanks the Ohakune community for its patience and cooperation while this complex issue is resolved.
*END*
OHAKUNE WATER OUTAGE - MESSAGE TO FOOD, HOSPITALITY & ACCOMMODATION BUSINESSES
Council has made a water tanker and bottled water available at their office on Ayr St and at various other locations around Ohakune.
The Ministry of Health have advised that the prioritisation of bottled and tanker water is for residential premises, essential services and where people reside
Cafes, bars, etc. do NOT meet this criteria so may need to close if their Business Continuity Plans (BCP) cannot be implemented safely
Some food/hospitality businesses have already made the decision to close due to having no hot water and/or toilet facilities
Council would like to thank these businesses for making an early decision on this.
If food/hospitality businesses are wondering whether they should close and would like advice they can contact Council’s Environmental Health Officer on 027 275 4758
