Coromandel Town on boil water notice as tankers are brought into town

Coromandel Town is on a boil water notice as the town's water supply has become undrinkable. Photo / File

Coromandel Town is under a boil water notice as tankers are being brought in to provide temporary assistance due to the town's water supply being undrinkable

A combination of dirty stormwater reaching the treatment plant, a power failure on Sunday night, and a leak in one of the chemical pipes caused the plant's clarifier to overload.

The clarifier is used to clean the water prior to it being treated through the filters.

The larger than usual volumes of very dirty water reaching the plant caused the clarifier to work at an increasingly slower pace, meaning less water has been produced and reservoir levels have also dropped.

"Our staff have been in touch with the local cafes and will continue to contact them to ascertain what specific assistance we can provide," said Thames-Coromandel District Council infrastructure manager Mohamed Imtiaz.

"We're providing a temporary service through water tankers, however if businesses have any specific requirements that would help to maintain business continuity please contact our water services operations team leader, Jon Stammers, by calling 07 868 0200."

• The tankers will be available 24 hours a day until the boil water notice has been cancelled. (The tankers will be replaced when empty, however there may be a short delay between the tanker being emptied and replaced).

• Please bring your own containers to fill from the tankers.

• Collection of water from the tankers is free.

There have been no official reports of any cases of illness relating to the water and the council is keeping the Waikato District Health Board informed which has been supportive of the way the council is managing the situation.

The council says if residents feel unwell, they should notify their doctors. Tests can be done to determine the cause of illness and the District Health Board will be notified if relevant.