After a big shake or a burst
Gas first
Smell gas or hear hissing? Open a window, get everyone out, and turn the gas off if you can. In an emergency, ring 111.
Shut off the water
Turn off your property's water. Civil Defence says this limits damage from broken pipes and keeps contaminated water out of the cylinder.
Use the cylinder
The hot water cylinder may be your best drinking water for a while. Boil or treat water if you are told to.
Sort out whose problem it is
A leak on your side of the boundary is yours to have fixed. Water pouring from the street is the council's.
New Brighton facts
Christchurch City
Stats NZ places New Brighton in Christchurch City, so the city council's pipe rules apply.
Smaller homes
29.5% of New Brighton dwellings have two bedrooms and 7.9% one, both above the national shares of 19.5% and 6.9%.
Fires as well as heat pumps
Pellet fires are a main heater in 4.2% of homes, against 0.9% nationally. Wood burners show up in 24.5%.
Earthquake country
Canterbury Civil Defence lists major quakes in 2010/11 and 2016, and says Canterbury earthquakes have caused liquefaction and fault rupture.
The toby box and the lateral
The council owns the toby box and everything in it, even inside your fence. The supply pipe from the boundary to the house is yours. Where several homes share one supply pipe, all of them share its upkeep.
About 70% of Christchurch lateral blockages sit in the private section, between the gully trap and the boundary. A drainlayer with a camera can show which side yours is on. If it's the council's side, you need footage of a structural fault before it will repay anything. In a vacuum sewer area, ring the council on 03 941 8999 before anyone else.
What we would do
Find the toby and your main stopcock this week, while nothing is wrong, and check both will turn. Keep some stored water as well. If a shake or a storm leaves water pooling on the section, shut it off at the property and get a plumber; if it's gushing in the street, report it to the council. For any drain trouble, ask for camera footage before anyone digs.
More for Christchurch: emergency plumbers, blocked drains, gasfitting and heat pump hot water. Tell us what has happened in New Brighton. A tradie who does that work can pick it up, and your number stays private until one does.