Public health warning signs near a busy stretch of the Lake Dunstan Trail have been removed after three days of clear water quality results, the Central Otago District Council (CODC) has confirmed. 

The signs had advised people and animals to avoid the area only a few hundred metres from the Kiwi Water Park. 

It is understood they were installed earlier in the week after a wastewater overflow was reported. 

In a notice issued at 5pm on Thursday (December 11), CODC said the overflow near Luggate-Cromwell Road (State Highway 6) between Cromwell and Lowburn had been repaired by contractors. 

Precautionary water sampling over the past three days showed no contamination, and the wastewater was contained on land and did not reach Lake Dunstan, the council said. 

“‘No swimming’ signs were temporarily erected as a precaution and have been removed today [Thursday]...following clear sampling results,” the statement said.  

Cones and signage were used to warn the public to keep off the affected area.

Some details about the timing and cause of the incident remain unclear. 

People are advised not to swim in the lake adjacent to the overflow site, Thursday, December 11. Image: The Central App

A worker from Trility, CODC’s three waters contractor, was onsite when The Central App visited on Thursday afternoon.  

He said the incident involved the main wastewater line that services Lowburn and Pisa Moorings.

He said the council became aware of the issue on Sunday. 

CODC’s public notice refers only to a “wastewater overflow” and did not specify when the initial failure occurred. 

A spokesperson from the Kiwi Water Park said the park had been notified earlier in the week.

They said CODC tested the park’s water on the day the signs were installed. 

“We got a call yesterday that it came back perfect,” the spokesperson said.  

The Central App has requested further information from CODC about the cause of the overflow, the volume of wastewater released and when the incident was first officially reported. 

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