Councillor says 'nothing wrong' with Eastern Bush water despite boil water notice

RNZ News

14-07-2025

The boil water notice was issued just over a year ago on 11 July 2024.
Photo:
LDR/supplied
A Southland district councillor living under a boil water notice says he's not bothering with it because "there's nothing wrong" with what's coming out of the tap.
But the council behind the notice has issued a fresh reminder to residents that the water must be boiled before consumption.
Local Democracy Reporting put questions to Southland's three territorial authorities asking how many boil water notices were currently in place.
The answer was just one - in the Southland District Council administered area of Eastern Bush/Otahu Flat, north of Tūātapere.
Councillor Derek Chamberlain lives in one of the 54 properties affected, but says he still drinks the water without boiling it first.
"I'd sooner drink our water than bloody Auckland water. There's nothing wrong with it," he said.
A key factor was the turbidity - or cloudiness - of water coming out of the Wairaki River, which Chamberlain said was originally a supply for livestock that people had later tapped into.
The river became dirty when it rained, and the council was not able to effectively filter the water due to hardware issues.
Derek Chamberlain.
Photo:
LDR/supplied
Chamberlain testified that discolouration was a factor, but said there was no issue with the water which he ran through a filter.
"People aren't getting sick or dying or anything in Eastern Bush, I can assure you."
The notice was
issued just over a year ago
on 11 July 2024 and will likely remain in place until 2026 or 2027 when the treatment plant is upgraded.
On Monday, the council reminded residents on social media that the notice remained in place because of potential contamination from flood water.
That meant there was a risk of disease-causing bacteria, protozoa and other contaminants.
Water "must be boiled" for drinking, preparing food and personal use such as brushing teeth, it said.
The notice is an outlier in the region.
Gore District Council had not issued one since the September 2023 flood event, which it did out of precaution.
Invercargill City Council had no record of a notice being issued in recent decades.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air