Petone spring only source of unchlorinated water for Hutt
By Joel Maxwell
It was either a case of buying bottled or hitting Buick Street for Hutt people last week as Hutt City Council discovered e-coli bacteria in its Naenae reservoir. The council was forced to purge its system with chlorine and switch its water supply after routine testing turned up traces of the bacteria at the reservoir. Some strains of the e-coli bug can cause food poisoning and are often passed through faecal contamination. The council was touting the popular Te Puna Wai Ora water feature in Buick Street as a source of safe unchlorinated water for Hutt people. Council infrastructure general manager Bruce Sherlock said it was still unclear how the Naenae reservoir became contaminated with the bacteria. The reservoir was closed and would have to be drained, examined and cleaned, he said. Mr Sherlock said the contamination was of a very low level but the council would chlorinate the normally unchlorinated supply for all of Hutt. The chlorinated water would have a different taste and smell but was safe to drink, he said. Meanwhile the council was supplying drinking water from the Greater Wellington Regional Council?s Waterloo treatment pumping station. Te Puna Wai Ora is Petone?s source of pure artesian water. The water is safe from micro-organisms because it is filtered naturally through the aquifer as it makes its several-years? journey to the surface.
