New private bore opens in Orewa to help water tanker drivers in northern Auckland

8/03/2021
Halls Farm private bore opens for business
Photo: Halls Farm private bore is officially open for business

Today (8 March) we opened a new private bore in Halls Farm, Orewa to help water tanker drivers in northern Auckland and reduce wait times for residents with rain tanks. 
 
The bore belongs to developer AV Jennings and is sited within the Halls Farm housing project. We are leasing the bore, which will provide 600,000 litres of water per day - enough to fill up 60 average water trucks and reduce travel times for many drivers. The water is treated by a modular unit, designed, and installed by Lutra—water treatment specialists. The bore will complement other fill-up stations in Silverdale, Whangaparāoa and Albany. Additional stations in Huapai and Albany now takes the total number to 14.
 
Programme improvements manager, Anin Nama, says the bore is an important new asset for the region: “One of the advantages of having the bore is that it won’t affect water supplies on the metropolitan network. Last year, towns like Helensville, tanker drivers nearly drained the local reservoirs by taking as much as 300,00-400,000 litres of water per day and we were forced to shut the filling stations.
 
It’s really important that we have enough water for everyone: our customers, tanker drivers as well as ensuring there’s sufficient supply for firefighting purposes.”
 
The new bore is the latest drought response project to help rain tank owners: From 1 July 2020, Auckland Council scrapped resource consent fees for new rain tanks, and in November we announced a new town to tank service to make it easier for Whangaparāoa residents to connect to the public water network. More than 250 residents have taken up this service, which offers a reduced flow for a reduced price and means rain tanks can be topped up over a few days.
 
To be eligible for this connection, residents need to be connected to the wastewater network, located close to the existing water network, and have rain tanks that hold at least 20,000 litres. The one-off connection and infrastructure growth charge for this service is $2,449.50 (including GST). A full connection costs $8,805. Once connected, monthly fixed and volumetric charges apply.
 
We are making other changes too, including the way we communicate with drivers. A new dedicated accounts manager service has been introduced to advise drivers in a timely manner about station closures or network faults.