Turning a tap on late at night and finding no water coming out can be an alarming experience.

While most people in the approximately 100 households near the Welcome Bay Slip Lane bridge that crosses the Kaitemako Stream were snoozing in front of their tellies or tucking up into bed last Friday night, one resident was getting a cup of water before retiring.

'I turned the taps on and no water pressure!” says Daniel Frank, a diesel technician. 'I went outside to check and see if the hose was leaking, and then happened to notice a noise over yonder.”

It was very dark, but he set off through the neighbour's property in the direction of the loud whooshing sound.

'Then I saw a geyser of water coming out from under the bridge.”

Looking up the Tauranga City Council number on his phone Daniel made a call.

'It was about 10pm at night, glad they had someone manning phones.”

Daniel says it was an hour and a half before contractors arrived 'but it would have been geysering for hours”.

'No one else had noticed it as it was late at night. I contacted a neighbour and got them to come and have a look with me.”

Council contractors arrived to put a temporary fix in place until assessments could be done during daylight hours.

'Our contractor arrived on site at 11.08pm, approximately 40 minutes after being called,” says Tauranga City water services manager Peter Bahrs. 'It took a bit longer than usual to shut the main down and access the break for repair due to complex health and safety as well as traffic management considerations.

'The repair undertaken on Friday night is a temporary fix. We are doing additional assessments of the condition of the main and will be undertaking some hydraulic modelling to determine next steps.”

Daniel watched as the initial inspection was completed but headed off to bed once the contractors started closing down the flow of water.

'On Saturday morning, the water was back on at my house. I went and had a look at what they had done – it's a temporary repair. They fitted a large clamp over the burst area. That's when I noticed the erosion under the bridge and how rusty the pipe is on the outside.”

He found he was becoming concerned about the interior state of the pipe, when had maintenance last been done, was his water safe to drink, could his health be at risk, and what was the rest of the city's infrastructure like.

Peter Bahrs confirms that the water is safe to drink.

'The pipe was visually inspected and photographed last year,” says Peter. 'In general, water mains that are on pipe bridges are inspected on a yearly basis and the general condition is recorded for any remediation required. Council visited the site on Monday, May 10, and there is no concern about erosion.”