The Invercargill City Council has issued an urgent notice for all residents and businesses in Invercargill and Bluff to conserve water, following an explosion at a pump station in Myers Street, Waikiwi, this afternoon.
The explosion, which occurred just after midday, resulted in the hospitalisation of one of the two contractors working on an electrical switchboard. a 25-year-old man was seriously injured and taken to Southland Hospital.
Emergency services were called and WorkSafe has spent the afternoon assessing and investigating the site. Council and PowerNet staff have also been working to assess and restore services.
City Council Water Manager Alister Murray said that while the Waikiwi pump station was out of action, residents in the northern and eastern parts of Invercargill would experience lower than normal water pressures.
“We do have problems with distributing water within the Invercargill network and also down to Bluff and are asking all consumers to make strenuous efforts to conserve water.
“Residents are being asked to urgently conserve water for the next two or three days as Council and contractors work to restore the damaged systems and get the pumping station working again.
“We need to move as quickly but as safely as possible to restore this essential service. We are very conscious that the hot weather would ordinarily mean higher than usual water consumption and in the meantime we are asking people to limit their water use until further notice,” Mr Murray said.