Carterton District Council has made the difficult decision to continue its boil water notice for at least a further three days despite receiving its third clear daily E. coli bacteria test result. This decision was made on the advice of the engineering experts the Council engaged, and Regional Public Health.

“While this may be disappointing for some of our community, we need to take the advice of the experts and public health. We also acknowledge that moving in and out of boil water notices can create uncertainty for our community. We want to ensure that our water supply has been thoroughly checked and tested, before lifting the boil water notice,” said Mayor Lang.

“Being able to provide safe drinking water for our community is obviously a hugely important priority for our Council. Maintaining the boil water notice for at least a further three days will allow Carterton District Council to carry out further testing and gain additional insights which should prevent issuing further boil water notices in the near future,” said Mayor Lang. 

“We are adopting a cautious approach around the location of the probable source of the low-level contamination in the pipe network which triggered a boil water notice. Further information about this will be released once engineers have completed their review of the remedial works.”

Advice received indicates that there may still be the potential for positive readings over the next few days. The Council has said that remaining on the boil water notice is safer for their residents, even though the level of contamination is relatively low.

Infrastructure and Services Manager Dave Gittings says, “After numerous community requests we have sourced bulk water and residents will be able to bring their own water containers and fill them from 5pm this evening, outside the Carterton Events Centre on Holloway Street.”

At this stage, the Council and Regional Public Health has not detected any illness above expected background levels within the community.

The boil water notice is still in place until further notice, which means Carterton businesses and urban residents connected to the town supply must boil all water before being used for drinking, making baby formula, juice, ice, washing fruit and vegetables, other food preparation/cooking needs, or brushing teeth.

A further update will be provided to the community by 5pm Thursday. Please continue to boil water before use until the Council has advised otherwise.

Boiling water before use is the best way to make water safe. The risk of getting sick from drinking the water is low but possible, especially for vulnerable people. Babies, young children, pregnant women, the elderly and people who have weakened immune systems are more at risk of illness. If you get diarrhoea, vomiting and/or a fever, get advice from your doctor or contact Healthline (0800 611 116).

How to boil water for drinking:

• Boiling will kill all disease-causing organisms.
• Bring water to a rolling boil (where bubbles appear in the centre and do not disappear when the water is stirred) for one minute or boil a full electric jug until it switches off
• Cool water (do not use ice cubes to do this) and pour into clean container with a lid
• Refrigerate until needed.

If you experience diarrhoea, vomiting and/or a fever, contact your doctor or Healthline (0800 611 116). For more information and to stay up to date, visit www.cdc.govt.nz/boilwaternotice

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