Renate's Cafe co-owner Heimo Staudinger is still serving filtered but unboiled drinking water to customers. Photo / RNZ, Robin Martin
By Robin Martin of RNZ
Many Pātea residents are ignoring a South Taranaki District Council boil-water notice.
The Water Services Authority, Taumata Arowai, directed the council to issue the advisory because the water supply carries a risk of microbiological contamination.
Pātea’s water supply comes from deep aquifers that are proving difficult to disinfect to standards introduced after the Havelock North contamination crisis that killed three people and made thousands ill.
Renate’s Cafe co-owner Heimo Staudinger said council advice had been ambiguous.
“Yeah, we have a bit of a challenge because we had someone coming in from the council and handing us a note that we should boil the water.
“So, I asked him, ‘Can I give water free to my customers from the faucet?’ and he said, ‘Yes, nothing has changed from yesterday,’ so I said, ‘Why are you handing me out a boiling water notice?’”
Staudinger asked if there was a threat to health.
“And they said, ‘No, there’s not health issues, it’s the same water as we got yesterday before we got the notice.’
“So, we don’t actually do anything. What we use in the kitchen is already boiled, and we have a filter system here – I don’t know if that’s good – so we filter all our drinking water.
“But at home we just drink normal water from the faucet as we did before.”
Deputy Mayor Rob Northcott, also a Pātea mechanic, took issue with the Taumata Arowai directive, arguing that a solution, in the form of an ultraviolet disinfection unit, was already on its way.
“Some of the issues I had was that I just thought it might’ve panicked the community a little bit because the water essentially hadn’t changed, but having said that, there is a risk, as small as that might be, [that] contaminants could get up in there.”
He said he was not following the boil-water notice.
“I am using my water as I always have done.”
He was quick to point out that it was a personal position.
“Some people are boiling their water. I spoke to a customer this morning and asked if they were boiling water, and he said, ‘Yes’ because he had underlying health issues, and that’s fair enough, and I would advise him to do so, and anyone who feels compromised should do so too.”
Water Services Authority head of operations Steve Taylor said the decision to issue a directive was not taken lightly.
“We did a deep dive into South Taranaki’s approach to how they managed their water and identified a number of concerns actually that indicated the appropriate risk management, even outside of the rules that they have to comply with, wasn’t being put in place, so that raised some concerns with us.”
He said any risk was too much risk.
“There comes a point in time when you say actually enough is enough. We know the supply is unsafe.
“The best thing to do is let the residents know and enable them to make the decisions they need to, and the best way of communicating that is through the boil-water notice.”
At the Pātea library, Kathy Taylor was at the front line of the council response.
“We’re just advising people to boil water, and people are also coming in because we are supplying water.
“We’ve been hectic with that, and the guys are just delivering more. We went through a couple of pallets on the first day.
“It’s just ongoing, just people panicking a little bit, I suppose, and they are just coming in as a precaution.”
But most people RNZ spoke to were using the town supply.
Leighton Gunn thought the boil-water notice was an over-reaction.
“I just think they are making a mountain out of a molehill. It tastes fine to me, and I haven’t worried about boiling water to drink it. It’s been fine.”
Kate Paris was on the same page.
“Nothing’s actually changed with the quality of the water; what’s changed is the regulations, so I think the notice created a little bit of unnecessary concern, especially among our older residents.
“I’m not treating my water [any more] than I ever have.”
Patricia Stevenson was visiting the library but wasn’t interested in the bottled water.
“I’m just using the water. I’m not using the bottled water because I know it’s just a technicality.”
She wasn’t worried about the town supply’s safety.
“No, I’m not. It’s exactly the same water as last week, and we’ll get a UV filter eventually.”
Mila Chivakova, who was walking along the high street, said: “We don’t take it seriously because it’s written that it’s just because the standards increased, so it’s actually the same water as it was before.
“We don’t worry much, we still drink it. I just boil for my kids, but me I don’t care, I just drink it.”
One older woman, who did not give her name, was more concerned.
“You have to boil your water, oh hell yeah, that’s very concerning.”
South Taranaki District Council expects to have its new ultraviolet disinfection unit up and running at Pātea within six weeks.