Water plan better late than never

Awatere Water scheme was installed, his family had to cart water from the Awatere County Council.

But once a new system was installed, sourced from the Black Birch Stream, his family had ‘‘running water, all year around’’.

He recalled running baths for his children in the 1970s, and the ‘‘tea-coloured water’’ making the tub look ‘‘horrible’’.

Renner said his tap water had been ‘‘good’’ for the past few years.

‘‘It’s cloudy, yes, but it’s never like what it use to be,’’ he said.

Seddon School principal Tania Pringle said the lifting of the boil water notice was ‘‘fantastic’’ and made life ‘‘a lot easier’’ for the community.

‘‘We now know, however small a risk [there was], that none of us will be catching things from the water,’’ she said.

Pringle had spent the past 11 years working with the notice hanging over her head. The health risk meant water containers had to be brought along by teachers and families when the school held events.

Some of the school’s taps had ‘‘drinkable’’ water, or water that had been through a filter, and didn’t need boiling, but a lot didn’t. High sedimentation could cause the filter to stop working, setting off an alarm and forcing the school onto its backup water supply, she said.

During the boil water notice, she would boil her home’s tap water for children, older people or guests, but would often not boil it for herself.

Cosy Corner employee Marlene Jackson said she had never boiled her tap water since moving to Seddon 15 years ago.

‘‘I wouldn’t let the grandchildren drink the water from my tap, though. Just myself,’’ Jackson said.

She said while lifting the boil water notification was ‘‘good’’, it would not change her way of life.