Napier residents are still refusing to use water from their taps due to health, safety and taste/smell concerns, more than one year on from chlorination of the city’s network, a survey shows.
In the Stuff survey, 42 per cent of the 361 respondents said they didn’t drink the tap water because of the taste or smell.
Another 17 per cent said they didn’t because they did not believe it to be safe, and 6 per cent said they didn’t because of a health issue.
Nineteen per cent of respondents said they did drink the water, and didn’t understand why so many complained of it.
The extent of complaints about water clarity, odour and taste was revealed by Stuff in June.
I have had itchy skin patches and sometimes after putting some water in a small container it is a pale brown colour and left overnight there is black residue on the bottom."
Christine McIntosh drove from Taradale to Hastings every week to stock up on de-chlorinated water.
Jon Kingsford, the city council’s infrastructure director, said the council was still assessing possible locations for two de-chlorinated water stations which were approved in the council’s long-term plan.
The council did not believe there was a hysteria about drinking water.
We believe people should take all factors into account before considering if bottled water is the right choice."