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Water Warning Remains in Place
Media Release
12 March 2007
Water Warning Remains in Place
Waikato Medical Officer of Health Dr Dell Hood says she has no immediate plans to lift a health warning in Te Kuiti following the weekend contamination of the town’s water supply.
Dr Hood today said she was still advising Te Kuiti residents to boil their water for drinking, brushing teeth etc.
Waikato District Health Board instigated the warning on Saturday after waste from a meatworks’ effluent pond leaked into the Mangaokewa Stream which supplies Te Kuiti’s water supply.
The river down stream from the spill is not suitable for recreational use either.
Dr Hood and Waikato DHB health protection officer Wade Lawson are en-route to Te Kuiti where they will meet Environment Waikato, Waitomo District Council and meatworks’ officials for an update.
Dr Hood said she had been reassured by Waitomo District Council that clean drinking water had been distributed to all Te Kuiti schools and drinking from school water fountains had been banned.
The Hangatiki School, on the Mangaokewa River, draws its drinking water from a bore so pupils there were unaffected, she said.
Meanwhile Te Kuiti Hospital manager Thia (crrct) Priestly today confirmed there had been no admissions associated with the intake of contaminated water.
Drinking water for patients was either boiled or bottled water, she said.
ENDS
Waikato District Health Board
Healthy People. Excellent Care
Waikato District Health Board (DHB) employs over 6500 people and plans, funds and provides hospital and health services to more than 391,770 people in a region covering eight per cent of New Zealand.
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