Water tankers
Eight water tankers are available for businesses and the public. People wanting to collect water should bring their own containers. These should not be rinsed with tap water before being used to store clean water.
The Octagon (available throughout the night)
Corner Dundas Street and Montgomery Avenue (available until 10pm tonight, returns 6am tomorrow)
Outside Otago Museum (main entrance) (available until 10pm tonight, returns 6am tomorrow)
Outside George Street Normal School (available until 10pm tonight, returns 6am tomorrow)
Outside the Oval BP forecourt (available until 10pm tonight, returns 6am tomorrow)
Outside Hunters Furniture, Cumberland Street (available until 10pm tonight, returns 6am tomorrow)
Outside Emerson’s Brewery, Anzac Avenue (available until 10pm tonight, returns 6am tomorrow)
Logan Park High School car park, Butts Road (available until 10pm tonight, returns 6am tomorrow)
OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION:
How long is the warning expected to last
The boil water notice will remain in place for parts of central and north Dunedin until at least late Friday.
Who is affected
The affected area stretches across much of the north of the city, including the CBD, North Dunedin, Leith Valley, the warehouse precinct, Woodhaugh and any area in the central city between the town belt and the harbour.
Council infrastructure and networks general manager Ruth Stokes said at a briefing this afternoon that 1720 residential properties and 825 commercial properties were in the affected area.
What to do if you are in the affected area
Tap water in affected areas must not be used for drinking, making up baby formula and juices, making ice, washing fruits and vegetables, or brushing teeth.
Please boil all drinking water before use. Zips do not boil water sufficiently. Water needs to be through a rolling boil for at least one minute and filtered water should also be boiled for at least one minute.
If you’re in an affected area please flush run your taps for 10-15 minutes. This will flush the water and will help with the cleaning process.
If you have a water tank, please empty it so it can be refilled with clean water.
If you are in an affected area and have water that you have drawn from the tap since yesterday, please tip it out and do not drink it.
As a precaution, please use hand sanitiser after washing your hands. Care should be taken with bathing and showering so that water is not swallowed.
Most coffee machines only heat water to 80-85 degrees Celsius. These machines need to be used with pre-boiled water. Plumbed-in machines should not be used.
The warning
The Dunedin City Council this morning issued a boil water notice, warning residents in a large swathe of the city to avoid drinking water from the tap, or boil it, because of a water quality issue.
The council has activated its emergency operations centre (EOC) as it races to flush potentially contaminated water from the city's drinking water supply.
The risks
Mrs Stokes said there was no certainty about the level of risk associated with the affected water.
``It some parts it would have been reasonably diluted, but you're basically drinking water that's the equivalent of drinking it straight out of a stream or lake.
The cause
The council says it appeared untreated raw water released from the Ross Creek Reservoir on Sunday had been able to enter the city's drinking water network.
Workers had begun releasing water from the reservoir into the Lindsay Creek on Sunday, in preparation for work set to begin in the area.
Complaints were received Monday night and this morning, prompting an investigation which found an old pipe - no longer recorded on council plans - just below the reservoir.
The pipe connected to the city's drinking supply, allowing raw water back into the network.
Mrs Stokes said this afternoon no untreated water had entered the system since 10am and by about 1pm they were close to flushing out all of the affected water.
"We are close to having all of the water out of the system now."
Can I use water from a zip?
Zips do not sufficiently heat water.
Water must be boiled at a rolling boil for at least one minute to be considered safe.
I have a water filtration unit installed. Does this make the water safe?
Filtered water should also be boiled at a rolling boil for at least one minute before using it for drinking, food preparation or teeth brushing.
