Hamilton City Council has issued a boil water notice for the Rototuna water supply area after a single confirmed test result today (Saturday 4 October) showed the presence of E. coli in a water sample from the Rototuna reservoir.

There has been no other positive test at the site and testing at other reservoirs has not detected E. coli. The boil water notice applies to the Rototuna Water Supply Zone, which covers around 12,000 properties and around 29,000 residents, as well as a small number of Waikato District Council residents supplied from the zone.

Only Waikato residents supplied by the Greenhill bulk supply point, being Gordonton and Puketaha, are impacted by this event. These residents are on the on-demand supply and the rural trickle feed supply network and will also be required to boil water for as long as this notice is in effect.

Council’s Three Waters Unit Director, Maire Porter, said the result showed up in the standard testing regime for the reservoir, and Council immediately started additional testing and investigation.

“Although this is a single test, we take any adverse result extremely seriously and have specific response processes we follow. Our initial response is precautionary, and we act quickly so we have a team ready to deal with any issues identified.

“An incident management team has been established, and we will be working closely with Taumata Arowai and the Ministry of Health on next steps. Council’s website and social media channels will carry updates as our investigations continue.”

The boil water notice recommends people boil tap water before use for drinking, food preparation, and personal use, such as cleaning teeth. Washing hands and good hygiene is important as E. coli can spread from person to person. This is particularly important around more vulnerable members of the community like infants, the elderly, and people with immunocompromised conditions.

The boil water notice will be in place until at least Tuesday, as three clear days of testing are required before a notice can be lifted.

Further updates will be posted on Council’s website and social media channels as they come available.

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