Carterton District Council has lifted its boil water notice effective 4pm Monday 15 March.

The Council has been working closely with Regional Public Health following a low-level contamination of E. coli bacteria at two of its water sites on Friday. The Council has now received three clear sample results from Friday, Saturday and Sunday and can therefore lift the boil water advisory notice.

The urban water supply pipes have been flushed and the water source has been switched over from the bores to the Kaipatangata Stream, which means the water is fine to drink without having to be boiled first. However, should there be heavy rain in the next two days, this may cause turbidity in the water and the Council will need to switch back to the bores for urban supply which may mean imposing the boil water notice again.

“The water is safe to drink so we didn’t want to have the boil water notice in force longer than was necessary,” said Infrastructure, Services and Regulatory Manager Dave Gittings.

“Because we’ve switched to the Kaipatangata we can safely lift the notice.

“We are yet to identify a definitive source of the E. coli reading so are cleaning the tanks associated with the bores and retesting the water at these sites.

“This means if there’s heavy rain over the next few days and we have to switch back to the bores, there’s a small chance we may need to go back to a boil water notice as we wouldn’t have finished cleaning and retesting yet.”

Mayor Greg Lang would like to thank the community and businesses for their patience and understanding, as well as their assistance in spreading the message far and wide.

“I know this has been an inconvenience to many people, but I’m really impressed with how people took this in their stride and helped the Council get the message out,” Mayor Lang said.

“I’m reminded once again of how connected the Carterton community is and how neighbours checked on each other.”

What should I do once a water advisory/notice is lifted?

Run all your cold taps for 5 minutes before using the water.

Flush any appliances, e.g. coffee machines, water dispensers, ice makers that are connected to the water supply.

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