By Keiller MacDuff of RNZ
Christchurch City Council is looking at bringing in drinking water to parts of the city as supermarkets sell out, after a boil-water notice for bacteria contamination was sent to tens of thousands of residents.
A public health alert was issued on Saturday afternoon for about 14,000 households in New Brighton, Burwood, Wainoni, Aranui and Southshore.
It said all water, including filtered water, needed to be continuously boiled for at least one minute after routine testing discovered total coliforms in the Rāwhiti water zone.
Total coliforms are a broad category of bacteria that can be found in faeces, but also live in the environment, including in soil and plants.
They do not generally pose a direct health risk, but the presence of total coliforms indicated bacteria were present and that treatment has not been effective or that treated water was vulnerable to contamination, according to the website of water regulator Taumata Arowai.
Residents and people travelling into the area received multiple emergency text alerts about the problem throughout Saturday.
Linwood Ward Councillor Yani Johanson said boil-water notices on metropolitan water supplies were relatively rare, though he noted the Rāwhiti zone was under a notice for four days following the discovery of E.coli in 2019.
Johanson had pressed the council for more details and advocated for bringing in water tankers to key spots to alleviate the burden for residents.
Some residents would be anxious and would want as much detail as possible about the levels of bacteria and the cause, particularly given the supply is chlorinated, he said.
Residents in the affected suburbs were already struggling with a surge in offensive odours from the city’s damaged sewage plant that have plagued the eastern suburbs since a fire destroyed key infrastructure at the Bromley Wastewater Plant in 2021, and had intensified again over recent weeks.
“It’s another blow for the community,” Johanson said.
Coastal Ward councillor Celeste Donovan said the council was looking at options to bring in water, especially as supermarkets in the area were struggling to keep bottled water stocked.
On Saturday, the council arranged for a water tanker as New Brighton hosted thousands of people at the Coast to Coast finish line.
Donovan said there was never a good time to get news of bacterial contamination, but the alerts began just as more than 1000 multi-sport athletes, their supporters and spectators descended on the New Brighton pier.
“Obviously with a lot of people who aren’t able to boil water at home, we wanted to make sure that people had access to water on site because we had thousands of people turning up for the Coast to Coast.”
Donovan said the influx of visitors was one of the reasons for the repeated emergency alerts, which reached everyone in the area – not just residents.
The council would update the community once further testing had taken place, but it could take a few days to lift the notice even if the test results were clear, as the council will have to identify the source of the bacteria before it can remove the boil notice, she said.
People could check if they were in the affected area on the council website or Facebook page, she said.
She acknowledged the community’s frustration at another infrastructure issue affecting residents in the area.
“I think that’s why it’s important we put out good information now, but there is a lot of frustration in the community and it highlights how important it is to continue to invest in infrastructure like our water pipes and making sure we avoid things like rates caps in the future,” Donovan said.
The council was committed to communicating with residents over the lingering stench from the Bromley sewage plant, she said.
Last month, anger boiled over about increasingly bad odours and a lack of information, with residents walking out of a heated public meeting after demanding more information, better communication and more support.
“The main thing is actually getting rid of the stench, which is the goal of course. So speeding up the permanent fix is the priority and making sure that those who live in that impacted area get all the support they need,” Donovan said.
Christchurch City Council said routine testing found total coliforms, but not E.coli in the water supply.
“Total coliforms are a group of bacteria commonly found in the environment, and their presence in the water network serves as an indicator of potential contamination and the possible existence of harmful pathogens.”
The council said staff and contractors were undertaking further testing and investigations to understand the cause of the contamination.
The boil-water notice will be in place until further notice, it said.
– RNZ