Source: Radio New Zealand
Supplied / Watercare
Watercare is investigating the cause of a possible E coli case which has put thousands of Aucklanders on a boil water notice.
The notice was put in place for parts of Hillsborough, Mt Roskill, Royal Oak and Three Kings on Monday after routine water sample testing showed traces of E coli.
About 7500 households and businesses were affected.
Watercare chief operations officer Mark Bourne said all other testing in the area showed normal results, and the decision was made to protect public health while investigations continued.
“Typically we’re taking about 40 samples throughout the networked area of Auckland each day. Those samples are then analysed for a range of parameters. One of those parameters is E coli.”
Watercare said people in the affected area should use boiled tap water or store bought bottled water for drinking, cleaning teeth, making ice, washing dishes and preparing food.
“All we need to do is literally boil [water] in an electric jug, and then if you want to drink it cool, let it cool down.”
Bourne said any presence of E coli was concerning.
“It can cause stomach upset and diarrhoea and the like… that’s why we’ve taken this precautionary approach.”
Bourne said Watercare was investigating how E coli could have possibly entered the water supply.
“Part of our rapid response yesterday evening and overnight was we’ve undertaken investigations of the local reservoir that supplies the area, and we’ve walked all of the upper reaches of the water supply pipelines.”
Two public water tankers were set up at 113 Duke Street, Big King Reserve, and Hillsborough Park carpark, Carlton Street.
An update was due at 12pm Tuesday.
Full maps of the affected areas were on the Watercare website.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
