Health authorities still not satisfied all Christchurch drinking water is safe.
Canterbury health authorities are still not satisfied 80,000 Christchurch residents have access to safe drinking water, despite shallow wells no longer being used.
Canterbury medical officer of health Dr Alistair Humphrey ordered the council to provide an assurance the water being supplied to residents in suburbs was safe.
* Chlorinating water in Christchurch’s northwest is off the table * Water in Christchurch’s northwest could be chlorinated * Health officials want assurance D-rated northwest Christchurch water supply safe * Christchurch’s drinking water contaminated 125 times in four years * Positive E coli tests ‘not surprising’ in Christchurch untreated water supply * Chlorination extends to Hastings after E coli found in tanker with ‘clean’ water In response, the council decided to spend an extra $480,000 to accelerate a $16 million programme to replace all 22 shallow wells.
The wells still needed to be available for an emergency event and could only be fully decommissioned when all the new deep wells were in service, council three waters and waste planning and deliver manager John Moore said.
This was not expected to happen until June 2019.
He said once he received the information that the new bores met groundwater security criteria he would be satisfied the residents would have access to safe drinking water.
"CDHB is aware of the council’s timeframes and to date has not raised any concerns or indicated that they believe that the shallow bores pose an untenable risk."
Water from the shallow wells had a "D" risk grading, which was classed as an unsatisfactory level of risk.
– Stuff