Former plumbing contractor Maurice Kippenberger knows all about water, and he has had enough of cleaning slug-like creatures out of his home supply.
Mr Kippenberger blames the Waitaki District Council for the problem, but its water-wastewater asset manager, Martin Pacey, said the council was not to blame.
When the Oamaru water treatment station underwent a $12 million upgrade ultra-fine filters down to 0.1 micron were installed.
The creatures would not be able to get through that, Mr Pacey said.
About eight months ago, Mr Kippenberger found clay silt in a water pipe feeding his property.
He was told the council was responsible for the problem.
Now he is finding the creatures. Yesterday, he spent about 90 minutes cleaning out his supply, finding four of them in a filter which supplies his bird aviary and another one which had blocked his garden watering system.
He has been finding them for about a month.
He is not sure whether they are in the pipes in his house - so far he has not had a blockage. He has a water filter in the kitchen with a sealed cartridge, and when it is due to be replaced he will cut it open to see what is inside.
Mr Kippenberger dreads the prospect of finding the creatures trapped in the filter.
He describes them as "part slug, part tadpole" and does not know what they are but has saved one for the council to see.
Mr Pacey said the problem could be in the house feeder tank, if it had one, or a backwash into the pipes on the section.
He was adamant the creatures could not be coming from the council's water supply.
