Napier Mayor Bill Dalton was absolutely delighted with the response of council staff, and the public.
"Whilst it's not a positive thing to have E.coli it can happen at any time and it was handled in very much the most appropriate way," he said.
"I want to thank the public for their support and assure them we're absolutely on top of the situation."
The two positive tests had been taken before the supply was chlorinated. Since Thursday, it has been dosed regularly with chlorine, leaving council to believe this had eliminated the presence of E.coli from the supply.
Under national water standards, the council needed the three consecutive readings to be able to reopen the small tank of the Enfield reservoir and reconnect it to the city's water network.
The cause of the contamination is still unknown.
Council chief executive Wayne Jack said rather than reopening the tank right away, council would enlist an expert commercial dive team to inspect, clean and vacuum both tanks of the reservoir.
This would start tomorrow, and finish late on Friday.
Daily testing for E.coli, and chlorination, would continue until the reservoir had been fully cleaned and was ready to be reintegrated into the water network.
Manager asset strategy Chris Dolley said the council had created a work programme which should mitigate "any future opportunities for E.coli to present in its reservoir".
"We haven't yet been able to isolate the exact cause of the contamination but we're continuing to investigate the cause," he said. "We'll also be looking at what improvements can be made to decrease the chances of anything like this happening again".
The proposed programme included upgrading sampling points in the water network and increasing the frequency of cleaning.
Level two water restrictions - implemented by the council on Friday - would remain in place as the affected reservoirs tanks would be closed for short periods of time.
"Although rain is forecast this week, we're also looking at the mid-range forecast and seeing another spell of dry and hot weather in the near future," Mr Dolley said.
"Understandably, this typically means that residents get the hoses and sprinklers out. So we are reminding our community to keep up their great work they've been doing so far to lighten the load on our reservoirs and allow them to stabilise.
For those unable to tolerate the chlorinated water supply, four chlorine-free taps remain in place at Anderson Park, located on York Ave next to the light blue Girl Guide hall.