E coli contamination in east Christchurch water

LEXI Tawhara looked out her window and saw workers pumping thousands of gallons of water out on the road.

Her mother, Liana Tawhara, said the 6-year-old was ‘‘hollering out the window ‘what are you doing wasting our water’?’’

Tawhara went on Facebook and found out she was among about 2000 households in east Christchurch having to boil water, just a few days before Christmas.

Residents in parts of Shirley, Bexley, Wainoni and New Brighton were advised to boil their water after traces of E coli were found in the water supply.

The contamination was confirmed by a laboratory yesterday morning after water samples were taken from the Keyes pump station in Rawhiti Domain on Friday.

Residents were alerted yesterday morning through Civil Defence’s phone warning system.

All water used in the affected areas for drinking, food preparation, utensil washing, brushing teeth or making ice should be boiled until further notice.

Tawhara said Lexi brushed her teeth on Friday night with water that was potentially contaminated and they both went to bed with bottes filled with tap water.

Elsewhere in New Brighton, Rawhiti Golf Club bar manager Tami Pearce said the bar had a function tonight and had to serve water. It could mean a trip to the supermarket to buy extra bottles of water, or having to boil everything from the tap, but they had managed a similar situation after Canterbury’s earthquakes.

Christchurch City Council reticulation and maintenance manager Tim Drennan said the boil water notice would remain in place until laboratory tests confirmed the water was safe to drink. ‘‘Bringing water to the boil is sufficient to kill bugs. If you cannot boil water, treat it by adding one teaspoon of household bleach per 10 litres of water and leave for 30 minutes.’’

Drennan said the cause of the contamination is not yet known.