The council side and your side
The point of supply is the toby, restrictor or meter. Waitaki District Council owns everything up to and including it, and nothing beyond it that runs to your house, tank or other buildings. A leak on your side of that point is a job for your plumber.
Water leaking from a hydrant, from the toby itself, or anywhere not on your property or your side of the point of supply goes to the council on 03 433 0300. It arranges the repair and pays for it. The council keeps running the water until Southern Waters, owned by the Waitaki, Central Otago, Clutha and Gore councils, is due to take over on 1 July 2027.
When frost bursts a pipe
Water off at the street
Turn the supply off at the toby. If you can't, ring a plumber.
Power off if water is in the walls
If water is coming through a ceiling or wall, turn off the electricity at the meter box and call an electrician.
Ring your insurer
Do this before repairs start: the council's advice is to talk to the insurer before the plumber begins.
Then the repair
An authorised plumber fixes the pipe. Open doors and windows where you can to dry the place out.
Ōamaru facts that shape the job
Lagging is on you
Heavy frosts can freeze pipes and damage fittings, the council says. Owners must protect exposed council-owned pipes and fittings on their property, and may pay for repairs if they didn't. Foam pipe lagging, taped or tied in place, is its suggested fix.
Wood burners in most homes
At the 2023 Census, 55.8% of Ōamaru homes used a wood burner as a main heater, nearly double the national 28.2%, and 1.6% a coal burner. If your fire also heats water, replacing that cylinder has its own rules: see wetbacks.
Mostly owner-occupied
Only 26.7% of Ōamaru households didn't own their home or hold it in a trust in 2023, against 34% nationally. So in most homes the person calling the plumber is also the one paying.
A two-minute licence check
Ask the tradie for their PGDB practising licence, on a card or in the app, and read the expiry date. Search their first and last name on the PGDB register and look for the tick or green that shows a current licence. If someone supervises them, look that person up too. Our guide has the detail.
More for Ōamaru and Otago
Frozen or split pipes: burst pipes. Water lost somewhere you can't see: leak detection. The wider region: Otago.
What we would do
Before winter, find your toby and check that any exposed pipe near it, or along the outside of the house, is lagged. It's a small job, and if its fittings weren't protected, you may have to pay for the frost damage. If a pipe has already split, water off first, insurer second, then tell us what happened and we'll pass it to authorised plumbers working in Ōamaru.