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448 days ago

170,000 Christchurch residents ‘at risk’ from drinking water as 27 councils given notice to fix

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

From reporters Debbie Jamieson and Keiller MacDuff:
A total of 170,000 people in Christchurch are potentially at risk of bacteria in drinking water, as regulator Taumata Arowai races to identify councils without protozoa barriers on their water supplies in the wake of Queenstown’s cryptosporidium outbreak.

Taumata Arowai on Thursday sent letters to 27 councils, telling them to lock in plans - and money - to fix their drinking water supplies by June.

Most of the councils are in the South Island. Christchurch has the largest potentially at-risk population, the regulator said, with about 170,000 people drinking from supplies in part fed from wells less than 30 metres deep.

These appear to be in the Ferrymead water supply zone, which also feeds the Lyttelton Harbour basin (nearly 23,000 people), and the central water supply zone (supplying about 158,000 people).

However, Christchurch City Council has so far been confident the health risk is low. It said it was unlikely people would get water from only the shallow wells, because it mixed with water from other sources first.

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1 hour ago

Fair play

Resene

Whether it’s a playhouse, she shed or teenager’s sleepout, a stencil-painted floor in Resene Clockwork Orange will elevate it from meh to wow. Find out how to create your own with these easy step by step instructions. Find out more

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9 days ago

Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.

If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?

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Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
  • 62.1% Summer
    62.1% Complete
  • 36.4% Winter
    36.4% Complete
  • 1.5% Other - I'll share below
    1.5% Complete
1573 votes