Kāeo water crisis: Residents endure 10 years without safe tap water

The small Far North town of Kāeo has been struggling for drinkable water for at least a decade. Photo / Yolisa Tswanya

This July will mark a decade since Kāeo was placed under a boil water notice – a persistent crisis with no clear resolution in sight.

In July 2015 a public health notice declared Kāeo’s water supply temporarily unsafe and advised drinking water should be boiled for two minutes.

Ten years later, residents say the boil notice has never been lifted and they “know not to drink” the town’s water.

They said they have resorted to installing tanks or buying water to get clean and usable water.

Kaeo, a smalltown in the Far North has been struggling for drinkable water for at least a decade. Photo / Yolisa Tswanya

Te Rūnanga o Whaingaroa Pou Arahi (general manager for culture) Raniera Kaio said the long-running boil water notice was not the first.

He believed the problem had been “swept under the carpet” because it was too hard to resolve.

“One of the issues is infrastructure, it needs to supply the water to the town, it has been corrupted by decades of flooding ... there currently seems to be no plans to fix the issue, it’s a big one and would cost a lot of money.”

Kaio said local iwi were always open to having a conversation with the district council and the Government on how to resolve the issue.

Te Rūnanga o Whaingaroa Pou Arahi (general manager for culture) Raniera Kaio said the long-running boil water notice was not the first.

He said nothing concrete had come from the many meetings regarding the issue.

“Council says it is the private company’s issue and the company says it’s a council issue, and that just leaves residents in this purgatory of not knowing what is happening.”

Kaio said while the council has addressed other concerns like flood mitigation, this is one residents have had to live with.

“Ratepayers just get on with life without use of drinking water. Because it’s been so long and nothing is being done, no one even makes much fuss.”

Resident Anna Valentine said the boil water notice had just become common knowledge.

“People have tried to do something about it and ended up giving up. People just buy bottled water and carry on.”

She said it was “disgraceful” to have to fight for something that is a basic human right.

Kaeo resident Anna Valentine has tried to get answers and a resolution to the town's water problems for years. Photo / Yolisa Tswanya

“There is not even clean drinking water in taps, we have drank it before and it’s not made us sick but we don’t trust it.

“A lot of people got tanks, like a lot of the businesses got tanks. But not everyone can do that, there should be drinkable water in town,” Valentine said.

A local business owner said the town’s water supply was unreliable.

“We went on a water tank about 15 years ago to avoid all the water issues in the town. When you try to get help from the council you don’t get clear answers.”

Far North District Council communications manager Ken Lewis said the council was unable to respond to questions about the boil water notice and water supplier.

He directed inquiries to the responsible authority, Taumata Arowai.

Taumata Arowai’s website lists Bryce Smith of Wai Care Environmental Consultants Whangaroa as the supply contact for Kāeo’s drinking water.

Smith said he was unable to comment when approached by the Northern Advocate.

Water had previously been supplied to the town by private company Wai Care Environmental Consultants Whangāroa.

But in November 2018, the company notified its customers that it would cease operating in Kāeo.

At the time Smith, as Wai Care spokesman, said meeting ever-changing legislative requirements, including the NZ Drinking Water Standards, was demanding, especially when larger suppliers failed, increasing the scrutiny on everyone else.