Taupō District Mayor David Trewavas is full of praise for the Taupō community and the way they have rallied around to support each other following the water main break and subsequent significant wastewater spill to the lake on Tuesday.
Mr Trewavas said the response from the community had been incredible and it made him proud to see how the people of the district were getting behind the effort to fix the break as soon as possible. “Once the initial shock of the break passed, people have rallied to help and have been reducing their water use wherever possible. This is great because the less we have going into the system, the less we have to manage going out while council staff and contractors work to make lasting repairs,” he said.
“We’ve had great support from the community for those workers – with people bringing down coffee and food in the middle of the night – and I’d like to acknowledge their hard work in very difficult conditions. They’ve been working on this around the clock, in the cold and rain, so really deserve our thanks. This is going to be a big job and it will take some time to put right, but I think most people realise that this is an act of nature and our focus is to get it fixed and get it fixed soon. Obviously, the road closures and the calls to reduce water use are problematic, but there is a growing sense of community spirit around this and that’s what you can expect from the Taupō district.”
Regular updates are available on the council’s website taupo.govt.nz and Facebook page.