Water quality issue in Temuka

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Published: 30 Nov 2017

We're investigating a water quality issue in Temuka at the moment. There's no safety issue, but it may be blocking water filters.

We're currently flushing out the whole system, so there will be a drop in water pressure for the next while as we do this.

We'll have an update on here and on Facebook as soon as we know more.

1.25 update

We've got our whole waters team on site looking to track down the issue. We're also flushing the whole system out.

We've got no reason to believe there is any safety issue here our treatment centre is working and all recent water samples have come back fine. We are undertaking ongoing sampling.

We're still looking into it and will get back to you when we have more info.

4.30 update

First and most importantly. The water is safe to drink.

We think we're getting on top of the system problem. The current thinking is that small amounts of cottonwood fluff has got into the system. It's not noticeable normally (it's in such a low concentration that it's not shown up in our REALLY sensitive turbidity (clarity) checks) and is harmless to drink.

The system is still showing residual chlorination, so this means there's no bacteria present and all our previous tests are clear.

The problem is that it has been collecting and concentrating on the filters on people's kitchen taps and washing machines etc. (Kind of like a dryer screen, minute fibres adding up)

However, our newer toby valves going into your house have small filter screens in them, in a small number of cases that would reduce the water coming into your house.

The easiest way to check this is to go outside and run an outside tap. If it's running at a good pressure, it's probably your internal tap filters. Will have some info about how to fix them shortly (once we grab a spanner and a camera).

If there's no water coming out of the outside tap, please ring us on 687 7200 and we'll send someone out as a priority.

Tonight we'll be prioritising those who have no water, however if it is an internal problem please give us a ring and we can advise how we'll sort it.

Last updated: 24 Feb 2021