| Work Detail |
City bosses have moved to assure Hamilton residents their water is safe in the wake of Havelock North''s gastro outbreak. This week the Government announced a wide-reaching inquiry into how Havelock North''s water supply became contaminated. More than 4500 people in the township became sick with gastroenteritis after a water bore got contaminated. Andrew Parsons, Hamilton City Council''s city development manager, said Hamilton''s water supply was of a very high standard. Importantly, there were a range of barriers or defences throughout the treatment process to guard against contamination. Speaking to elected members on Thursday, Parsons said the city had enjoyed an AA water grade for more than 20 years and was compliant with all the requirements of the New Zealand drinking water standards. The council also had a water safety plan in place which acted as a quality assurance framework. In the past 12 months, the council had taken about 790 water samples, with no positive results returned. If I take the original Hamilton boundary area, in the last 20 years we''ve taken over 6000 samples and not one of these came back with a single positive E coli result, Parsons said. Parsons said Hamilton''s water network was a public, open network and therefore it was important the council was well-prepared if there was an event. There are a number of procedures in place, so we''ve got people who are actively managing and monitoring the [water treatment] plant and the network all the time, he said. If an issue did arise with the city''s water supply, the council would deploy the necessary resources to get the message out to the public as quickly as possible. It''s your ability to respond, to shut down, isolate, and then go out and have the human contact that''s important, Parsons said. |
