The mayor of the Gray District says that the cause of contamination to one of his water networks can never be found, describing the situation as “looking for a needle in a haystack.”
Greymouth west coast city and surrounding areas have been under a boiling water warning since last Wednesday due to contamination in one of the district’s five water supply schemes.
The advice was on its way to raise the warning over the weekend with consecutive days of clear results on the tests on Friday and Saturday.
However, low levels of coliform bacteria, often linked to human and animal waste, were found in Taylorville and Rapahoe on Sunday.
Board officials are investigating the potential source of contaminants last week.
Mayor Tania Gibson said the situation remains inexplicable.
“It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack at the moment,” she said.
“We hope we can find out and have our resources.
“At the end of the day, we may not get an answer. It is very difficult to track what it is.”
Low coliform levels found in isolation usually do not trigger a boiling water warning, Gibson said.
But according to the 2021 Water Services Law, the Board must keep the notice in force until three consecutive days of clear tests are completed.
Gibson said the board’s initial investigations explored animal waste contaminants as a potential cause, but still awaiting the results of this.
The last round of sampling further closed the situation, she said.
“We all have postponements in our infrastructure that can be updated,” she said.
“But it is usually easier to track if there is an infrastructure problem.”
The Chief Operations of Arowai Taumate, Steve Taylor, said he was in regular contact with the board and would continue to monitor the situation closely.
“The supplier must … investigate the supply to find the cause of contamination and be satisfied with the fact that corrective actions taken have been effective to avoid recurrence and that drinking water no longer has a health risk.”
Although the community adapted last week, there was a feeling that the boiling water warning was beginning to affect some.
Paroa hotel owner Alan Monk is driving between Greymouth and Hokitika to get safe drinking water.
He said he hopes the problem would be quickly corrected.
“It looks like the readings are getting lower, so it looks like things are getting better,” Monk said.
“I hope they are … because it is becoming frustrating having to provide water bottles and continually support our water supply to our coffee machines.
“It’s starting to get a little tedious.”
The Te Te Nīkau Hospital and the Greymouth Health Center was doing well during the challenging period.
New Zealand Health Operations Associate Director for Ti Tai the Poutini West Coast Philip Whether said the hospital was dealing with the challenges presented by the boiling water warning.
“Bottled drinking water continues to be supplied to all hospitalization areas and will be completed as necessary,” he said.
“With enough bottled water supplies from Canterbury every day, as well as disposable items, there is currently no concern for provisions.”
