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• Watercare has shut off water to parts of  after a large water main broke.
• The outage affects suburbs including Henderson, Glen Eden, and Ōrātia.
• Watercare is working on repairs and arranging tankers for emergency water supply.

Watercare has shut off water to large parts of West Auckland after a large-diameter water main broke today on Mountain Rd in Henderson Valley.

The affected suburbs are Henderson, Henderson Valley, Glen Eden, Kaurilands, Sunnyvale and Ōrātia. The outage might also impact Glendene, Konini, north Titirangi, Kelston and Waitākere.

One Henderson resident told the Herald they were completely out of water, which was “frustrating around dinner time”.

Watercare chief operations officer Mark Bourne told the Herald it could take up to 24 hours to resolve the pipe issues.

“So right now our best estimate is probably up to a maximum of about 10,000 people experiencing low pressure, some of those possibly up to 3000 people affected with no water at all,” Bourne said.

Watercare warns it doesn’t know how long the repair to the 470mm-diameter water main will take – but because of its size, it could take up to 24 hours to restore water.

“Customers living at higher elevations are likely to experience no water. Others may experience lower pressure than normal. If residents have very low pressure or no water, we encourage them to turn off their taps,” Bourne said.

A large-diameter watermain has broken on Mountain Road in Henderson Valley. Image - Watercare

Henderson told ��һ�ǿ����� they were still piecing together how many people were actually out of water as opposed to just experiencing a low supply.

”A lot of the homes are actually experiencing low pressure at this point. If you happen to live on a hill where maybe the gravity pump isn’t going so well, then you may be out of water,” he said.

Bourne said Watercare currently has two teams focused on restoring water as soon as possible – “one dealing with repairs to the broken water main, and another looking at options for reconfiguring the water network to restore supply”.

“We are arranging tankers to supply emergency water and will share information on their locations on our website. People will need to bring clean bottles, buckets or containers to collect water for drinking or hygiene purposes.”

Mountain Rd was damaged by the Auckland extreme weather events of 2023, with repairs expected to be completed by March 2025.

Where are the water tankers?

Watercare has arranged tankers to supply emergency water. The tankers will be arriving at the following locations:

• 391 Henderson Valley Rd (opp. 348)
• 255 Henderson Valley Rd
• Corner of Archibald Rd / Netherlands Ave

Do you need to save water?

If you have low water pressure, Watercare asks you to avoid using your washing machine and dishwasher over the next 24 hours.

“Also, please keep your showers short – 4 minutes or less.”

- More to come