Napier City Council says water "perfectly safe to drink"

Safe to drink? Napier City Council says yes. Photo / Supplied

Napier City Council says water in the city is safe to drink despite claims of elevated levels of manganese in the drinking supply.

A 1 News article claimed an independent test run on a sample of discoloured Napier water showed levels of manganese of 3.52mg/L, nine times higher than the Ministry of Health's Maximum Acceptable Value (MAV).

A Napier City Council spokesperson said the water is tested regularly, and clear water had not shown elevated levels of manganese, which can be toxic when too much is consumed over a long period of time.

"We stand by the fact our water is perfectly safe to drink.

"There was an independent test done when we had the discolouration a few weeks ago, they had taken a sample from their tap.

"It seems to show higher levels of manganese, but you would still have to drink many cups of water over a long time frame to have any long-term effects."

They said council would not expect people to drink dirty water which occurs during maintenance, and recommends flushing the cold water taps if water is dirty, and if the problem persists, to contact council immediately.

Some council testing done on discoloured water had shown elevated levels of manganese. The spokesperson said usual water from the public water supply was compliant with New Zealand's drinking water standards.

Dr Nicholas Jones from Hawke's Bay District Health Board said they had no evidence suggesting clear water had elevated levels of manganese, and supported Napier City Council's advice to run the taps until water was clear.

He said recent tests showed manganese levels were with the Ministry of Health's guidelines, however the DHB had asked Napier City Council to increase the frequency of its water testing.

He said if anyone had consumed dirty water and were anxious about it, to go see their GP, however he thought there was a low risk of anyone experiencing adverse health effects.