WHEN a Te Kūiti suburb lost water and a call for help came in the wee hours of the morning, bulk water company owner Renee Munse sprang into action.
Renee was kept busy for much of Sunday supplying water to all who showed up with a container to be filled.
On Saturday night, Waitomo District Council announced its water services team was working to repair a major water main leak connected to the Mangarino Reservoir.
It acknowledged some houses were without water all afternoon.
Despite efforts to fix the leak throughout the night, the council announced on Sunday morning the issue was bigger than initially thought and repairs had been unsuccessful.
Affected households included those on View Rd, Mangarino St and Esplanade. Renee parked up behind the Les Munro Centre from 8am Sunday with a 10,000L capacity truck.
“I got a call at about 2.30 last night from the council asking if I could come down and give them a hand with some fresh water for the community who have been a bit stuck without water for a while,” she said.
“I thought I’d come down and give them a hand.” Although she couldn’t tell exactly, she estimated she had gone through a couple of thousand litres by midday.
“There’s been heaps of people coming through for buckets of water and all sorts of things to try and flush toilets and other bits and pieces.
“Everyone has been really good.”
Renee said she was happy to provide a service that was valuable to the community.
“It’s about helping people. That’s the main thing.
“If people need water and people need something, that’s what we’re here to do – to give them a hand.”
Water was restored to most affected properties by about 1pm Sunday.
Another water main was found damaged on Hill St, Te Kūiti on Monday, with crews arriving onsite at 5.30am to attempt repairs.
Water was restored by 2pm.
