‘High’ E.coli count in school’s water bore

Exclusive Drinking supply trucked in for Waiheke secondary students

E. coli has been found in the drinking water for two Waiheke schools. Waiheke High School principal Jude Young said the school, which uses bore water, discovered a “high” E. coli count in its water on Wednesday.

The neighbouring Te Huruhi Primary School tested positive for E. coli two weeks ago.

The Education Ministry was alerted to the contamination last night and is looking into the incident. The cause of the contamination is unknown.

Young told the Herald parents were alerted by email on Wednesday. None of the high school’s pupils had become sick but she would not comment on the situation at the neighbouring primary.

“We needed to replace some filter systems, which has happened today,” she said.

The high school must wait until it receives three clear tests back before it can start using the water again, which may take about a week.

Until then, the school will be shipping in clean drinking water on a daily basis.

E. coli-related illness can cause stomach pains, mild to severe diarrhoea, vomiting and fever.

Symptoms can be severe for children, elderly people, or those with weaker immune systems.

Young said the high school’s water testing was clear when Te Huruhi Primary School’s water tested positive a fortnight ago.

She would not comment on the primary school’s process after the readings came back. The primary school could not be reached for comment last night.

The high school has a roll of 517 students while the primary school has 389.

The Ministry of Health said the matter would be handled by the Auckland Regional Public Health Service, which did not respond to Herald inquiries last night.

The Ministry of Education only learned of the contamination last night and a spokes- man said it was being looked into.

The discoveries come not long after E. coli was found in Lower Hutt water. Chlorine has been added to Lower Hutt’s water supply after a reservoir tested positive for E. coli earlier in the year.

The Hutt City Council said it started chlorinating the supply for 76,000 residents after a routine test from the Naenae reserve came back positive.