Lawrence residents and business owners said they had waited patiently for the Clutha District Council to fix leaks across the town for the past nine months.
A recent count showed 10 leaks still active, and a water shutdown over the New Year weekend has left Bean Jazzed Coffee roastery and cafe owners Leanne and Nick Salt at the end of their tether and ready to take stronger action to register their dissatisfaction.
The couple said the unscheduled shutdown, due to low reservoir levels, had forced them to shut up shop and ask customers to leave during morning service on New Year’s Day, one of their busiest of the year.
Mr Salt said he was considering reducing his water rates payment to the council, proportionate to the deficit in service.
"We don’t think we’re being unreasonable.
"You can understand it if there’s an unexpected issue with your supply and it gets fixed promptly.
"But the council has known about the leaks for months now, and has only fixed a couple of them.
"We measured one at 10 litres a minute the other day.
"That’s over half a million litres a year wastage from a single leak.
"It doesn’t take a genius to work out why the reservoir might be low."
"If we fail to pay on time we get penalised.
"We’re paying for a service, so if that service fails, why should we pay the full amount?"
Council chief executive Steve Hill said additional resources would be deployed to address the leaks, although they were not directly responsible for the recent water shortages.
"The current identified leaks have been assessed and, while they need to be fixed, they did not cause the reservoir to empty in late December.
"Following the water outage, a significant leak was found on private commercial property, and it’s thought this caused the reservoir to empty.
"This leak was estimated to be losing about 300 litres of water per minute."
He said residents could expect to see repairs take place during the coming month.
"About half the leaks will require a minor shutdown and these will be addressed first.
"Several of the leaks will require up to 25% or more of the town to be shut down and these will be planned with advertising to give residents and businesses plenty of advance warning."
Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan acknowledged residents’ frustration with the slow pace of repairs but said matters were exacerbated by a "decades-long" backlog of infrastructural maintenance in Lawrence.
"Summer is a fragile time for water supply each year, and people need to temper their expectations with reduced resourcing over the holiday period and the reality of the Three Waters environment.
"We need to be fair to all parts of the district; service calls in Lawrence are considered as part of that district-wide priority."
