Petone facts
Smaller homes, fewer owners
A third of Petone's 3,246 occupied homes (33.1%) had two bedrooms in 2023 and only 12.9% had four. 43% of households neither owned the home nor held it in a trust (34% nationally).
Little wood heating
Just 8.5% of homes used a wood burner as a main heater, against 28.2% nationally. Fixed gas heaters (17.7%) and electric heaters (47.4%) were more common.
Wells on the foreshore
Tiaki Wai says three supply wells on Petone's foreshore feed the Gear Island Water Treatment Plant when needed. They're estimated at 40-50 years old, near their 50-year design life, and exposed to tsunamis, flooding and saline intrusion.
Tsunami map
WREMO publishes a tsunami zone map covering Korokoro, Petone and Alicetown, with an address search on its site.
Earthquake-ready plumbing
WREMO asks households to secure hot water cylinders, along with wood burners and tall furniture. In an emergency, the cylinder and the toilet cistern are both stores of water, so it says to check the cylinder and any header tank are well secured. Cistern water is only safe if no chemical toilet cleaner is in it.
Plan on your own water for the first 7 days: WREMO says setting up official water stations could take around 8. And after a big quake, don't flush. The wastewater network is even more fragile than the water network, so a flushed toilet may empty into the garden.
Your pipes and Tiaki Wai's
The lateral from your house to the public network is the owner's to maintain under Tiaki Wai's rules, and gully trap or private pipe blockages are for a plumber. Network faults go to 0800 TIAKI WAI (842 549). Ask Tiaki Wai where its water pipe ends: there's no published toby rule for Lower Hutt.
Next door: Lower Hutt and Wainuiomata. Region-wide: hot water cylinders, blocked drains and emergency plumbers.
What we would do
Next time a plumber is at your Petone home, ask them to check how the hot water cylinder and any header tank are restrained. Restraints don't make anything earthquake proof, but WREMO counts a secured cylinder as both safer and a source of emergency water. If you rent, raise it with your landlord.