Chlorination of Lower Hutt’s water supply to continue

Hutt City Council

The recent chlorination of Lower Hutt’s water supply is to continue while investigations into the source of recent positive E.coli test results are underway. This is likely to take many months to complete. Water remains safe to drink.

A sample from a bore in the Waterloo wellfield returned a positive E.coli result on 12 April 2017. This was the third positive E.coli result in five months from water sourced from the Waiwhetu Aquifer. This, plus recent water quality testing across the aquifer showing an increasing amount of bacteria activity, has led to the decision to keep chlorinating the Lower Hutt water supply network while investigations are ongoing.

The public fountains at Buick Street (Petone) and Dowse Square (central Lower Hutt) have been closed as a precautionary measure because they can’t be chlorinated.

We’re taking a cautious and vigilant approach because public safety will always be our most important consideration.

We don’t know what has caused this to happen, that’s what the investigation is for, but one possibility at this very early stage is it could be related to the November 2016 earthquake.

We’ve posted more information about this decision on our website below.