Restricting water to debtors raises concerns

A Northland council's plan to recover $1.3 million in bad debts by restricting water supplies could raise health risks, a doctor fears.

The Far North District Council is about to re-introduce a policy of reducing water flow to properties with metered water supplies that are well behind with paying for their water.

FNDC spokesman Rick McCall said bad water-debtors owed the council nearly $1.3 million and the policy would hopefully inconvenience them enough to pay their bills.

The debtors would be given two warnings, then a hand-delivered notice before restrictions would be imposed.

But Northland Medical Officer of Health Dr Jonathan Jarman said he had concerns water restrictions could lead to reduced hygiene and cause gastric illnesses. He said a health survey had found Kaikohe, Kawakawa and Moerewa had high levels of gastric illnesses, particularly among children.

"Restricting water will make good hygiene more difficult for some people. We are monitoring the policy and asking environmental health officers to report any situation where gastric sicknesses have been created, or likely caused by, water restrictions," Dr Jarman said. It was the duty of every local authority to protect public health.

Mr McCall said when the council used the policy in the past, bad water debts totalled less than $500,000.

"But in the last 18 months since we haven't been able to restrict water, the debt has soared to $1.3 million. That's nearly triple in 18 months and that's why the council wants to re-introduce it," he said.

Mr McCall said restricted flows would still allow a householder to use just as much water as previously, but it would take a lot longer to do so.

The policy has been attacked by the Water Pressure Group (Auckland), its spokeswoman Penny Bright urging Far North residents to fight the policy and even take matters into their own hands to reinstate water supplies that had been restricted.

She claimed it was a basic human right to have unrestricted access to public water supplies and the policy endangered public safety.

She said the council's user-pays water policy unfairly hit poorer families the hardest.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE