The water main supplying Tāneatua burst on Monday causing disruption to the town’s water supply and causing a school to close.

The break was caused by a pipe failure where it crossed a drain below the reservoir on McKenzie Street (State Highway 2).

Whakatāne District Council’s water team leader Neal Yeates said the issue was discovered at 11.10am through remote digital monitoring systems. Council crews responded quickly and were on site in Tāneatua shortly after.

The pipe had been replaced by 3pm and the 680-cubic-metre reservoir supplying the population of around 1000 people never fully ran out.

“Tāneatua residents may have noticed very low water pressure from their taps for a period. This was due to reduced pressure while the system was refilling.

Pressure improved through Monday afternoon, with the team continuing to top up the reservoir overnight to stabilise supply, reaching 100 percent capacity by 4am yesterday, Mr Yeates said.

As a precautionary measure in case the water ran out entirely, the council provided a water tanker on Monday afternoon outside Tāneatua School.

The school closed for the afternoon sending students home as soon as they could be released to their families.

Mr Yeates said some of the pipes in that part of the network were “older”.

“The council monitors the condition of water infrastructure and considers renewals through ongoing asset management planning.

“Situations like this are also a reminder of the importance of personal emergency preparedness, including having bottled water available at home in case there is an issue or emergency that temporarily affects the water supply.

“We thank Tāneatua for their patience while the team completed this important mahi.”