Sickness, boiled water and another hit for Queenstown businesses
Thousands of New Zealanders are drinking water at risk of carrying the same parasite that is causing sickness and disrupting business in Queenstown.
Drinking water providers installed barriers to neutralise or eliminate protozoa such as cryptosporidium and giardia. The barrier was usually either UV equipment or a fine mesh.
Despite legislation requiring protozoa barriers to be in place in New Zealand since 2014, the water supply drawn from the apparently pristine Lake Wakatipu and feeding central Queenstown did not have one.
The cryptosporidium outbreak was confirmed by September 18 and the Queenstown Lakes District Council quickly imposed a boil water notice in the town. Ongoing testing had failed to reveal a source of the outbreak, but the water supply was considered the most likely.
The council predicted it could be December before a protozoa barrier was in place and the boil water notice was lifted.
Water regulator Taumata Arowai had been assessing water supplies across the country to ensure they had protozoa barriers in place, prior to the Queenstown outbreak.
On Thursday, it said 84 drinking water supplies did not have a protozoa barrier in place, affecting more than 310,000 New Zealanders - 295,000 of those in the South Island.
It put the 27 councils involved on notice to have a plan and funds locked in to fix their drinking water supplies by June next year.
Putting the barriers in place could cost anywhere from tens of thousands of dollars to millions, and it was money the councils would have to find.
Read reporter Debbie Jamieson's full story here.
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Poll: Is it still rude to wear a hat inside?
Times have changed and perhaps so has our societal rules around taking off hats when indoors. What are your thoughts?
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74.9% Yes, take them off indoors
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24.1% No, it's not anymore
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1% Other - I'll share below
Time for a clear-out?
Delve back into that garage or wardrobe! It's time to sell your gently-loved goods at The Neighbourly Winter (online!) Garage Sale
On Saturday 6th July, members will be online checking out the goods on offer so it's a great time to get rid of your winter clutter.
Maybe it's time to realise that you're never going to use that snowboard or ski jacket, and that you really do have one too many heaters. Whatever it is, take a picture and put it on Neighbourly for locals to see.
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