Yesterday we told you how a brand of NZ water marketed as ‘100% Pure’ failed stringent Chinese quality tests for nitrites, today we’re bringing you another type of Miracle Water – it will be a miracle if you can stomach drinking it.

Spare a thought for the people of 100% pure north Canterbury who have ‘crunchy’ water coming out of their taps, with some shocking after effects…

Tap water in parts of North Canterbury has been described as “crunchy” and has reportedly caused plants to die and people’s hair to fall out.

Affected residents say the odour and taste of the water makes it undrinkable, and it has been anecdotally linked to diarrhoea, stomach pain and rashes, particularly in children.

The majority of the Hurunui’s 12,000 residents live with tap water connected to supplies given an “E” grade by the Ministry of Health.

It is the lowest grade possible and represents an “unacceptable level of risk”, according to the Ministry.

In the last analysis conducted in 2014, supplies for Cheviot, Amberley, Waiau and Waipara all recorded excessive E.coli levels and failed protozoa tests – placing them in the bottom 3 per cent of supplies nationwide.

Seven rural water schemes in the district are on a permanent boil notice…source

Here’s the results for Amberely, a small town very popular with British immigrants (an explanation of the gradings is here, or you can scroll to the bottom of the page) and you can find other NZ towns by clicking here

‘Too hard, too expensive‘

But the local council is in no rush to fix the problem because its water is ungraded and it has years until it has to fix the problem, by which time another ‘solution’ will have probably come along.

“It has until 2025 to meet national drinking water standards, which it said could cost up to $14 million, as most of its water supplies do not meet the standard.

It had previously told the Ministry of Health the standards were unfair, as *much of the district’s water was consumed by animals.” source

*That is no way to refer to rate payers.

This is what Kiwis tell people overseas about their water. Yes, people do actually believe this, despite 20% of them having unsafe drinking water. (maybe they’re talking abut the 100% Kool-Aid? Ed.)

“NZ is a highly developed country and the water is completely 100% safe to drink from the tap. We are actually one of the cleanest and greenest countrys in the world and are renowned for our clean air and beautiful environment.
all the water from taps has either been treated at the water plants or if you are off the beaten track you will find that the water from the taps is probably from tanks that capture rain water, or from natural underground springs.
In fact you may find that as NZ is no where near as polluted as most other countries that the water actually tastes nicer and crisper in NZ…”

“The worst tap water in NZ is safe to drink and better than some brands of bottled water.”

source

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