Emergency water
The Wellington region is a great place to live, but the weather can get a little wild. Earthquakes, landslides, storms, and tsunamis are a constant threat. An unexpected event can create challenges accessing essential services like water.
A strong earthquake in the Wellington region could see some suburbs without water for 100 days and possibly longer.
Wellington Water, alongside regional and national emergency management agencies and our council owners, have plans in place for when the unexpected hits. But everyone has a role to play and we encourage residents to do the same – be prepared.
Here, you’ll find everything you need to know to make sure you, your whānau and community are prepared.
Getting Prepared
National Emergency Management Agency Advice
The first seven days
The first seven days immediately after a major event is spent making sure that our people (and their whānau) are safe, before we get prepared and set up emergency water stations.
It may not be until day eight following a major event before the community water stations are activated, which is why we ask you to store enough water to provide 20 litres per person per day, to last seven days.
Emergency water network established
From eight days after a major event, the public emergency water network should be up and running. At this point, residents should be able to access safe, healthy drinking water via community water collection points dotted around the region. These are expected to provide a daily supply of 20 litres of treated water for every person.
There is a possibility that drinking water could be contaminated during the process of collecting and transporting water to people’s homes. In this scenario, it is likely that a boil water advisory notice will be issued to manage this risk.
How do we supply water in an emergency?
Building Network Resilience
We have a long-term strategy to build water network resilience, called ‘Towards 80-30-80’. The ultimate goal of this strategy is to provide 80 per cent of customers, within 30 days of a reasonable seismic event, with 80 per cent of their normal water needs.
In the meantime, we need to be prepared for an unexpected event now. A couple of examples of building network resilience include the successful completion of the Omāroro Reservoir in 2022, the Waiohine Treated Water Reservoir in the South Wairarapa, and the Silverstream bridge bulk water supply pipeline replacement project.
These investments significantly improve the resilience of the water supply networks, and gradually decrease the expected outage period prior to restoration of supply.