Watch NZH Local Focus: 'Let's not leave the band aid on'

Hastings resident Jess Soutar Barron is passionate about water quality.

She created a petition calling for Hastings District Council to stop chlorinating water - back in November last year.

Three months on - it's still attracting signatures.

"I know it's really precious and it's not just about the drinking of the chlorine but it's really about the washing in it and using it in your garden," Mrs Soutar Barron says.

"So there's a lot of reasons for individuals to want to protect the fact that we don't have chlorinated water rather than just say it's in the too-hard-basket, let's join the rest of the country and chlorinate our water too."

Like most people in the region - Mrs Soutar Barron accepted the initial decision to chlorinate the water following the gastro crisis last August.

"At that stage it was a really all hands on deck kind of community response. You know, if we have to boil water then absolutely let's boil water, if the council need to shock the water with chlorine then so be it and when the chlorine was put into the water it was in the understanding that after three months it would be looked at again."

Hastings District Council will continue the chlorination until safe drinking water standards can be ensured.

"Putting chlorine in means that you've put that band-aid on and you can try and work out what the long term fix is, but let's not leave the band-aid on without working out the best way of making the water safe long-term."

The petition has garnered more than 1600 supporters, most signatures sealed with a personal story about the chlorine's effects.

One reads: "My partner's skin is suffering terribly and I find the taste objectionable."

"I don't like the taste of chlorine in the water and it also it gives me eczema."

Originally from Auckland, Mrs Soutar Barron grew up drinking chlorinated water. She says it's made her appreciate unchlorinated water so much more.

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