Some Springfield residents are using a Selwyn District Council-supplied portable shower as their water situation remains stagnant.
A precautionary boil water notice remains in place, after being introduced on February 5.
District council group manager infrastructure Murray Washington said the notice remained in place due to discolouration of the water, and the portable four-shower unit had been installed for people to use due to this.
“The water supply is safe to shower in, however, the unit with four showers is there to provide an option for people to have a shower in water without the discolouration,” Washington said.
“The water is not yet clear enough yet for the UV treatment to be able to guarantee effective treatment at the levels required.”
Resident Amy Albon welcomed the shower block, which had been installed alongside a washing machine.
“I’m pleased, we all have a chance to be cleaned in fresh clear water,” Albon said.
She earlier spoke about avoiding using her bath to wash her four-year-old son, fearing the murky water would worsen a skin infection.
“I don’t have clean water to fill up a bath and wash him in or anything like that because the water looks dirtier than what he is,” Albon said.
It is the longest running and fourth boil water notice since last year’s May floods. Residents are already relying on a potable water tanker outside the community hall installed by the council for drinking water.
Turbidity in the supply has been caused by high levels of sediment in the supply source of the Kowai River, stirred up by rain events since the floods, potentially as a result of upstream landslips.
The district council has multiple projects under way to improve the supply and has been actively investigating alternate water sources.
The district council had begun construction of a new 500m3 treated water reservoir and two new 30m3 raw-water storage tanks, altogether costing $780,000, due to be completed by June.
In addition, $2 million to $4 million of capital works could go ahead for a new membrane plant, offering better filtration than the existing filter system, pending results of a trial that was under way.
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