‘Predators’ target elderly with water crisis sales

Havelock North’s gastro outbreak has prompted an outcry over ‘pressure’ tactics. By Kirsty Lawrence and John Weekes. Robyn McLean

ELDERLY residents in Havelock North are being ‘‘pressured’’ by door-to-door sales people in the middle of the water crisis.

Carol Winters, a manager at Age Concern, said in the past week HRV have been pressuring elderly people to buy expensive water filter systems.

HRV, who has used the star power of former Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming to endorse its products, sells heating systems as well as water filters.

Winters said an elderly woman, who is allergic to chlorine, was considering taking out a mortgage on her home to pay for the water system after she had already put down a large deposit.

‘‘She can’t shower, she can’t wash her clothes, she can’t do anything.’’

Winters said she had called HRV and told them she had agreed to buy the filtering system as she did not know what else she could do. ‘‘We have been able to help her out and get people to do her washing.’’

The timing of the services being offered was ‘‘very suspicious’’, Winters said.

HRV marketing director Justin Boyes said the company’s ‘‘whole home water filtration’’ system would not kill campylobacter and the company would treat any staff who made claims to the contrary ‘‘extremely seriously’’.

The filtration system would remove up to 98 per cent of chlorine and Boyes said people who didn’t like the taste of chlorine would like that.

Boyes said HRV was keenly aware of sensitivities in Havelock North and had ‘‘pulled back’’ its sales operations in recent days.

Winters said another elderly woman had been pressured into purchasing a $2000 upgrade ‘‘she did not need’’ for her heating system.

Brett Feehan, a board member for Age Concern Havelock North, said the elderly were suffering enough without being put in this position.

‘‘They are most at risk physically and mentally. They don’t feel like they can go out, they’re embarrassed, and we feel they are taking advantage of them. They are trying to do their best to keep themselves healthy and they are having these predators out there.’’

Dr Michael Baker, Otago University Professor of Public Health, said boiling, adding chlorine, and the use of UV treatment would kill campylobacter.

It was probably unnecessary for people to invest in other tools or precautions, he said adding that the safety advice and public messages from Hawke’s Bay authorities seemed adequate. IT started the Thursday before last with a phone call from my husband. ‘‘I’m really sick,’’ he moaned. I wasn’t overly concerned. I dished out some verbal sympathy and then told him, essentially, to harden up. But 24 hours later he still couldn’t keep food down and was running to the toilet like an athlete training for the Olympic sprints. Then, just after 10am the next day, I got an email from my son’s school. Kids were dropping like flies. Shortly after, I noticed Facebook was being inundated with comments from parents from different schools in Havelock North with tales of mass absentees— some in their hundreds. It wasn’t long before someone wrote: ‘‘they suspect it’s something in the water’’. I think back to my son Enzo saying he had a sore tummy two days ago. I let him stay home from school, thinking I was too soft and he’d pulled one over me. ‘‘You can only stay home if you drink lots of water and don’t eat any junk food.’’ Deal, he said. Now, six days later, his ribs are protruding and he’s spent hours crying, vomiting and pooing bloodlaced liquid. The guilt is almost unbearable— the mantra of ‘‘drink plenty of water’’ recited by parents throughout Havelock since their kids started feeling unwell is coming back to haunt us. The horrific reality is, we’ve been poisoning them. Campylobacter was in our water supply. What? How could this be? How could this happen in 100% Pure New Zealand?

I’ve never encountered anything like what has happened in Havelock over the past week. The streets are empty, shops are empty. A week after the outbreak started, the politicians roll into town to make the most of the media opportunities. You can almost smell the hand sanitiser on their mitts as they reach out to shake hands.

However, the community spirit has been humbling— like when I told the lady at the chemist my son hadn’t eaten for two days and was still vomiting thanks to a reinfection, and she hands me a box of electrolyte iceblocks for free. Tears.

The Hastings District Council were too slow off the mark.

Their communication in the first 24 hours was beyond dismal. The timelines will be debated and examined over the coming weeks, without doubt, but as someone who works in public relations, there’s no denying our council let its people down in those vital first hours. I wanted regular updates on Facebook— to be told what to do. They posted an advisory to boil water on Friday at 7.30pm. Their next post, just before midday on Saturday was a photo of kids playing hockey promoting the local council-owned stadium. What they didn’t mention was that most games had actually been cancelled because an unprecedented illness had incapacitated entire teams — thanks to the water coming from our taps.

Rather than wait for authorities to help us, many of us turned to social media. It is an amazing tool in a crisis. Recipes for settling upset tummies were shared, strangers offered for people to come and take water from their spring systems, people offered to pick up groceries and medicines for those who were incapacitated.

After pleas from residents, water tankers finally arrive in the village on Monday night. Finally we can fill the plastic bottles which have been mounting up. They’re not the only thing mounting up, however – anger is, too. And a few days later when we are told one of the tankers has returned a positive e-coli test, that anger is at an alltime high.

We need answers and reassurances this will never happen again. I hope it will start a wider discussion about how we look after our water resources in general.

But at the end of the day, I know I need to find a positive from this – and I have. I feel luckier than ever to live in a town that, has demonstrated what a community is.

‘ The Hastings District Council were too slow off the mark. Their communication in the first 24 hours was beyond dismal.’ ROBYN MCLEAN WITH SON, ENZO