Queenstown residents felt sick weeks before boil water notice announced

Queenstown locals reported feeling sick weeks before the council issued a boil water notice.

Residents were warned yesterday to boil their water or risk serious illness after National Public Health Service Southern confirmed cryptosporidium had caused a number of local illnesses.

The parasite has affected 15 people so far, the council said, and although there is still no confirmed link to the town’s water the notice is a proactive measure.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council said residents in the suburb of Fernhill had reported on social media feeling unwell.

A contractor began to frequently monitor the Fernhill area from September 8 but results were normal.

The parasite has now affected 15 Queenstown residents. Photo / 123RF

But Fernhill resident Bethany Rogers isn’t convinced her water is safe to drink.

“Everybody is pretty frustrated,” she told the Herald.

“I’m not saying it’s the council’s fault, you wouldn’t normally test for [cryptosporidium], but people flagged this in early September and nearly three weeks later everybody is like ‘oh, we were all right’ - it’s pretty serious.”

Rogers, a swimmer, became quite unwell for several days after doing laps at the start of the month.

Initially, she assumed it was a gastro bug but the illness continued to return.

“I jumped online to chat with neighbours and everybody was like ‘oh yeah, we’ve had it too and the kids have it’,” she said.

“I’ve been up and down for two weeks, but some of my friends are pregnant or have young kids - these kinds of things can be quite serious for people like that.”

Queenstown's council has issued a boil water notice as a proactive measure. Photo / NZME

It concerned Rogers that she’d been following health advice online to stay hydrated and drink water regularly to try flush any sickness she might be suffering.

“That’s just potentially made everybody worse,” said Rogers.

Queenstown restaurant owners also expressed anger about the delay in being warned to boil their water after the outbreak, according to RNZ.

“We’re feeding hundreds of people daily as is every other restaurant in town,” said one. “We should have got an email last night before anyone had any service.”

The council said it had begun testing specifically for crypto on September 18 after the confirmed cases.

“We will be testing the raw water source and reservoir daily,” a spokesperson said.

“Results take approximately three days and we will update the community as soon as we’re able.”

The areas affected include the town’s CBD, plus the suburbs of Frankton, Fernhill, Kelvin Heights and Hanleys Farm.

The council said today the boil water notice remained in place until further notice.

Property and infrastructure general manager Tony Avery said four people had contacted the council since September 8.

“[We] took all reasonable steps based on the information available at the time,” he told the Herald.