Huntly brown water problem persists, resident drives to Tīrau for clear water

Huntly resident Joanne Kelly is concerned about the brown water that comes out of the town's taps. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

“What’s wrong with Huntly’s water?” is a question residents of the small North Waikato community have been asking Waikato District Council for years.

Every time the answer is “Nothing” – a response that more and more residents are saying they no longer trust.

In the past eight years, the council recorded a total of 524 official complaints about the water in Huntly, mostly because every so often the tap water runs brown, has a metallic taste, discolours washing, and residents continue to worry about bathing their kids in it, let alone expecting them to drink it.

In fact, photos seen by the Waikato Herald of bathtubs run for kids look like a “code brown” incident should be declared.

Despite this, the district council insists the water is safe to drink, saying the town’s water pipes are old and the discolouration is caused by a build-up of iron and manganese deposits in the pipes.

This does little to reassure most people, including Huntly resident Joanne Kelly, who takes an 83-kilometre trip south to Tīrau every four weeks to fill up six 15-litre containers of South Waikato District Council water for her family to use.

“I whakapapa to Raukawa ... I get our wai [water] from Tīrau, [because] Waihou Blue Springs and Tīrau have a fountain which is spring water, not tap water from Kirikiriroa, she says.

“I don’t believe [the water in Huntly] is drinkable, but I’m no scientist ... We are on water meters in [the Waikato district], so I pay for something that I ... don’t feel like is safe.”

She says her cousin Anaru Thompson, who lives in Huntly with his elderly mother, boils all water they use for cooking and drinking.

“Other people I talked to are buying water from the supermarket.”

The discoloured water in Huntly has been a recurring issue since 2015. Photos / Aimee Sayers, Jennifer Carr, Nick Greene

Waikato District Council waters manager Keith Martin says the water is safe to drink.

“Council understands that some residents may be put off by the colour of the water and choose to purchase bottled water instead. However, we can assure all residents that the water meets drinking water standards,” Martin says.

“If you have discoloured water, run your taps for about 10 to 15 minutes to help flush your water pipes.”

Kelly says she tried this and it didn’t work for her.

The ultimate answer to the discoloured water problem would be to upgrade the water treatment plant and replace the aged pipes, but this is expensive.

Instead the council, together with its Three Waters partner Watercare, is buying a specialised truck, called a No-des (Neutral Output Discharge Elimination System) unit, from Australia which will flush and remove the deposits from the pipes.

Huntly resident Joanne Kelly drives to Tīrau to get water for drinking and cooking. She fills up six of the pictured containers, which last about four weeks. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

“This will significantly help to reduce the water discolouration until the pipes can be replaced,” Martin says. “Unfortunately, the first round of flushing with this new system has been delayed as a result of supply chain issues to get the equipment into the country.”

Huntly ward councillor David Whyte says: “It breaks my heart to hear people are buying water from the supermarket since Huntly is a low socio-economic community.

“It’s valid people feel upset ... If the tap water looks like river water, smells bad and tastes gross, people think that therefore it’s polluted. This is difficult to counteract, but the water is fine in terms of bacterial levels.”

Tai Raro Takiwaa Maaori Ward councillor Paaniora Matatahi-Poutapu, who lives in Huntly, says she, too, experiences brown water at times.

“If the water is brown out of the tap, I don’t drink it [and] buy it from Countdown.

“I am worried for our residents, it’s not OK. However, I do understand how long processes take and the council is doing its best.”

Meanwhile, Huntly Community Board deputy chair Greg McCutchan says: “We get charged for crappy water.

“I would like to get some of the brown water to council and serve it to them, saying here is some of our so-called safe water – take a sip. I can almost guarantee they will refuse.”