Dead in the water
A man whose goldfish all died overnight suspects they are the littlest victims of New Plymouth’s recent water crisis.
Newt Warren, of Waitara, has been looking after the goldfish in the pond by his back deck for more than 10 years and never had a problem before.
‘‘I sat out here in the morning, talked to them and fed them,’’ he said. ‘‘They were my lovely pets.’’
On Sunday night Warren topped up his goldfish pond with water from the hose and when he came out to his pets yesterday morning they were dead.
‘‘I did ring the council. I said I couldn’t believe it; my fish were all floating.’’
Warren suspects the deaths are linked to New Plymouth’s water supply issues.
For much of last week Waitara was without water after a wind
It’s a bugger to see them like that... I got a shock when I saw that this morning.’’
blown tree smashed a water supply pipe.
Water was reconnected on Sunday morning and testing has been carried out to check chlorine levels and the presence of E.coli.
A boil water order remains in place for much of the New Plymouth district.
Warren said the fish were ‘‘always happy’’ in their pond, which had water lilies and runs under his deck.
‘‘They were all healthy last night; they were all swimming around as good as gold.
‘‘I’m going to miss them; they’re not going to be there in the morning. You wouldn’t think this would happen.’’
Warren said he had been aware of the boil water notice but he didn’t think the fish would be affected.
‘‘If we’re not supposed to drink it, well the poor old fish did and there’s the results.
‘‘It’s a bugger to see them like that... I got a shock when I saw that this morning.’’
Warren said he had about 16 or 17 fish, although that may be down to about 15. They used to belong to his mother, who died almost seven years ago.
‘‘Her anniversary’s coming up next week and they’re all her fish. ‘‘She loved her fish.’’
He said the fish were part of his morning routine, as he would get his breakfast, feed his fish and do his garden.
‘‘I’ll have to bury them after, poor fellas.
‘‘I’ve had no problems, as I say, and then over one night they’re dead.’’
He said the council had been nice to deal with.
‘‘They might only be fish but they were my mates.
‘‘You go and feed them every day; you get a big kick out of it.’’