Huntly's brown water 'unsightly' but chlorinated, says council

Brown coloured water is once again pouring out of the pipes in Huntly. Photo / File

Huntly's ongoing brown water issue has again reared its head but the local council says although it's "unsightly" it didn't pose a health risk.

Residents have been voicing their concerns on social media about yet another plague of coloured water pouring out of their pipes.

The most recent issue popped up in November last year but there had other reports up to 15 years ago.

When contacted, Waikato District Council acting waters manager Karl Pavlovich conceded it had been a "sporadic problem over recent years in Huntly".

He said council has, and was, investigating various solutions including flushing the water supply at the main to remove discoloured water from the town's network, making adjustments at the water treatment plant to try and capture more of the iron and manganese deposits and researching to find a long-term plan.

"We do not believe the brown water poses a health risk. We do accept that the brown water is very unsightly, may taste unpleasant and when it happens it is unacceptable.
The water has gone through the treatment process and is chlorinated."

The brown water was caused by iron and manganese deposits in pipes which got stirred up due to flows and pressure fluctuations in the reticulation system.

"Iron and manganese are naturally occurring elements in raw water supply [untreated] in the Waikato."

Pavlovich said the weather played a part in the sporadic nature of the problem as temperatures fluctuated which caused more sediment accumulating in the pipes.

"There are also occasions that when we flush the pipes to try and get rid of the sediment that it could cause a spike of brown water problems ... unfortunately, these are random in nature and it is impossible to tell if the flushing will result in the disturbance of settled sediment."

Pavlovich said the "ultimate solution" was not only expensive but could take years to happen.

"We believe the ultimate solution would be to replace Huntly's water pipes. This would be a hugely expensive exercise. There is pipe renewal scheduled for Huntly in future years which will help to address the problem."

He encouraged residents to inform them if they were experiencing a water issue.

They were asked to ring 0800 492 452.