After a week of water and weather woes resulting in Queenstown issuing a boil water notice, and both Naseby and Omakau residents asked to conserve water to prevent the same, Central Otago mayor Tim Cadogan says this region has long made water quality standards a priority, but it is a long and costly process.

Following an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in Queenstown, drinking water regulator Taumata Arowai served a compliance order on the Queensland Lakes District Council, saying the Two Mile water treatment plant was non-compliant with the Water services Act 2021. 

"The lack of a protozoa barrier at the Two Mile water treatment plant creates a serious risk to public health, demonstrated by confirmed cases of cryptosporidiosis affecting consumers in the Queenstown drinking water supply distribution zone served by the Two Mile water treatment plant," Taumata Arowai head of regulatory Steve Taylor said.

Not all water treatment plants in Central Otago have protozoa barriers, including Omakau and Ophir, Patearoa, Cromwell and Ranfurly, which have varying types of source water. 

Central Otago District Council (CODC) was either investigating or putting together a business plan for greater resilience at those treatment plants, CODC communications officer Mary-Jo Tohill said.

Tim Cadogan said yesterday (Monday September 25) that the 2021 Act made the requirements for drinking standards compulsory, but before that councils could get around them citing cost constraints.

“This council made drinking water quality a priority in the 2018 long-term plan in reaction to the Havelock North situation,” he said.

Read more: Mayor’s column: Water woes

In 2016, contaminated drinking water was the source of a campylobacteriosis outbreak in the Hawkes Bay township that resulted in thousands becoming ill, 45 people hospitalised, and possibly contributed to four deaths.

CODC has spent more than $10M upgrading the Lake Dunstan water supply and has plans in place for all other plants, Tim said.

“The problem is it is going to cost big money.”

In Queenstown, the council expects the cost of installing a protozoa barrier at the Two Mile plant to cost at least $30M and to take at least three months.

“I have a lot of sympathy for where Queenstown is at, because it could have been us,” Tim said, “it could be us tomorrow.”

He said for many local councils, the ability to borrow for such massive infrastructure investments was “maxed out”, and the current government’s Three Waters plan was a response to the economic difficulties councils faced.

“If you can’t borrow to do all of this work, then the people of today are paying to do the work for people of tomorrow,” Tim said.

He did not agree with all that was proposed under the Three Waters proposal but said bigger entities would allow bigger borrowing.

Over the coming days the Central App will provide details of drinking water treatment for all CODC supplies and the techniques used.