Waihola & North Bruce – water notice & advisory
Water Notices
Two issues continue to affect the water supply for Waihola and the North Bruce Rural Water Scheme.
A boil water notice is in place due to an issue at the water treatment plant and separately there is an advisory after aluminium was detected in the water in February.
About the boil water notice
This notice is due to low chlorine levels detected at the water treatment plant. This relates to issues with treated water quality. New treatment equipment has been ordered for installation. This notice will be in place until further notice and we will advise when it is lifted.
Anyone using water from their tap for consumption (including teeth cleaning and food preparation such as washing fruit and vegetables) should boil it for 1 minute before it is used.
About the aluminium advisory
An aluminium advisory remains in place after water sampling from an accredited lab found aluminium levels exceeding the new drinking water standard of 1mg/L. This scheme supplies the North Bruce area including the township of Waihola.
Since 7 March there has been intensive sampling, from the water treatment plant, households and the pipe network.
You can read the exceedances online at www.cluthadc.govt.nz/advisory.
Changes have been made to water treatment filters, procedures and systems, and filtration has been increased. Although there has been a marked improvement since the end of March, there have still been some exceedances in at the treatment plant and in the pipe network and we are reviewing possible reasons for this. Flushing of the pipe network is being planned.
Sampling is ongoing and we are continuing to take direction from the water services regulator, Taumata Arowai.
The health advice is that the risk of consuming water from the affected supplies is negligible; no health effects would be expected at these levels of aluminium exposure, even if water was consumed over a period of weeks to months. This includes effects for people with kidney disease, infants, and children. Drinking water does not need to be boiled due to aluminium but should be boiled until the separate boil water notice is lifted.
Please share this information with affected friends and neighbours.
You can fill your own clean containers with drinking water by the Waihola community hall.
We apologise for the inconvenience these issues may cause.
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