Knee deep in it. NZ’s dairy pollution is equivalent to the population of China
New Zealand’s claim to be a first world country took a severe battering with the mass outbreak of Campylobacter from Havelock North’s untreated water supply. Up to 4,100 people are believed to have been affected and at least one person has died as a result, two others are in emergency care.
Now we learn that Christchurch also has untreated water and that it tested positive for E.coli bacteria (an indicator of faecal contamination) 14 times last year. E. coli has often been associated with cow faeces, of which New Zealand has plenty.
Apparently the council are responsible for looking after the town’s water, which means councillors are not personally responsible if anyone is ill from drinking it. You get sick, you’re basically on your own: paying your own medical bills (not cheap in NZ) and losing income from work. In other words it’s your fault for deciding to drink untreated water, even if you didn’t know about it.
‘She’ll be right, it’s too hard” is not an effective public health measure for most first world countries
According to the local press
Not treating Christchurch drinking water potentially saved “billions of dollars” but one lobbyist said if councillors were personally liable for the consequences they would not take the risk.
The council tests water daily for E coli, but it took 24 hours to get results. A total of 5487 samples were tested for E coli over the 2015 to 2016 reporting year…Currently only Akaroa, Takamatua, Duvauchelle and Little River have a chlorinated water supply in Christchurch. source
John Pfahlert, chief executive of lobby group Water New Zealand, said
“The issue that happened in Havelock North could easily happen in Canterbury. It has happened in Darfield.” He said it was up to communities to decide whether their water was chlorinated, but they should bear in mind the greater risk they exposed themselves to.
And what about the tourists and visitors to Chritschurch who don’t get a say?…
Pfahlert said an organisation with a personally-liable board of directors would “never take that risk“. “Because councillors are not personally liable for those consequences, we get a bunch of different outcomes around the country.” He recommended central government consider whether water chlorination should be mandatory.
“Even if we decide to do nothing, we will have looked under the hood.”
100% pure New Zealand. Not even close.
Isn’t it time to drop the pretense before someone sues for false advertising? Let’s drink to that. With bottled water.
E2NZ.org 
Still not treated ?! After so many people died .. Wtf so the water in chch tastes good but you’ll might end up in hospital… Here in Aussie the water doesn’t taste to good .. But at least I won’t end up in hospital.. Keep on that bottle water @hippiecruiser
Related to “there’s no accountability”:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/89610941/christchurch-earthquake-insurance-wrangles-endure-six-years-on
Christchurch earthquake insurance wrangles endure, six years on
MICHAEL WRIGHT
Last updated 05:00, February 25 2017
Insurance has dominated the post-earthquake landscape of Christchurch. Six years on from the ruinous February quake, thousands of claims remain unsettled. Is that acceptable? MICHAEL WRIGHT reports.
Six years ago, Karen Price wanted a new kitchen. The old one was a bit cramped. Her house had plenty of room but was built on a small footprint – floorage spread across three storeys on the steep side of Mt Pleasant, in Christchurch’s east. A better use of space was needed. Designs were drawn up.
Today, the new kitchen is nowhere to be seen. If anything, it is even further away. The company that designed it doesn’t exist any more and the Prices are six years deep into negotiations, first with the Earthquake Commission (EQC) and now their insurer, over earthquake damage.
…
READ MORE:
* Christchurch earthquake memorial: How it works and what to look for
* Too stressed to settle: 3000 insurance claims still waiting after Canterbury quakes
* Earthquake insurers unlikely to meet own settlement deadlines
* Rebuild targets a ‘complete failure’
Christchurch water! What can I say? It’s been downgraded by pollution more than 120 times in only four years. Christchurch people are drinking shit with their water and it appears that animal crap, probably farm run off in the NW of the city could be at least partly responsible. I am so glad I switched to bottled water for consumption. It really pisses me off that the denialists keep trying to fool the rest of the world. Clean & green and full of shit! Sorry for the language but I am gutted that this is happening, and all in the name of profit. There was a great song in the 70s called “Down by the river” by Albert Hammond. Look it up!
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/312102/chch-water-contaminated-125-times-in-four-years
HAD NEVER BEEN SO SICK BEFORE IN MY WHOLE LIFE !! for the past two months… seriously sweated out the whole virus lately. didn’t knew about this ! we are not drinking the water anymore , when I drink it i get sick straight away ! my husband has the same. can you believe this ? First world country ?! give me a break !
NZ has the highest rates of animal-borne gastro diseases in the OECD and yet the Government continues to do nothing about it… You would have thought this would be an issue of national importance! Also there seems to be little interest and/or discussion by the general public in regards to water quality issues. I brought the subject up in my workplace the other day and was told in no uncertain terms that it is boring! (They would rather talk about the rugby and slag-off Australia…). I get sick of hearing what a clean green paradise NZ is – yet there is such massive denial of all the environmental (and social) problems here… NZ has only remained relatively unpolluted due to its geographical location, weather patterns, and small population – not as a result of its land management practices…
By the way I am a New Zealander and wish to commend this website for getting the message out there about the false propaganda which surrounds the sale of this country to would-be migrants and international students. I both sympathise and cringe at some of the terrible experiences people have had in NZ. I know it is different for me because my roots are here and I have the resources to withstand anything untoward should it come my way. Outsiders, on the other hand, have no such safety net and can easily fall victim to this intolerant and unforgiving culture. Some of the workplaces I have had to endure myself over the years have been trying enough so I can only but imagine what they would be like for a foreigner. Kiwis can however be victims of their own propaganda… It always amazes me the number of people you see wearing jandals (flip-flops) in the middle of winter (when it is zero degrees C) and wearing shades when there is no sun! Seemingly it must never get cold in paradise lol…
Well said Yossarian.
I can relate to your view point totally !!You have to wonder sometimes !!!, about the ”Mentality”, or lack of it in this Country.Having lived overseas and being married to a ”Foreigner”, I as a Kiwi can see things ”from another angle” so to speak, which seems to be very different from what a lot of the ”Prols” in this country don’t seem to have any grasp of ??
Its infuriating to realize that ”N.Zs total lack of accountability” is well & truly alive & has been for decades !!!Where do I start ? , I don’t want to traumatize you with my School experience in Auckland in the 1970s when there was NO ACCOUNTABILITY for crimes that were being committed against vunerable boys at the time , & I recently found ”that there still up to their old tricks of ”NO ACCOUNTABILITY” and ”COVER- UP”,after nearly 3 decades.THings don’t seem to be getting ”BETTER” here, rather its the opposite.
Admin,
Here’s the politics behind NZ’s series of eco-disasters, another example of the neoliberal disease.
http://theconversation.com/new-zealand-is-letting-economics-rule-its-environmental-policies-62104
A more accurate headline would be–
“NZ is letting sectional interests rule its environmental policies”
Apparently the water supply is contaminated in other places too, now
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/83384538/mayor-says-no-risk-as-hastings-flaxmere-water-tests-positive-for-campylobacter
“Hastings, Flaxmere water tests positive for E.coli, but mayor says no risk”
2 thoughts:
1. This will be an excellent time for people to eat their concrete pills to “harden up” /sarcasm
and
2. I wonder if the mayor will dare to take a cup of water directly from the mains, in a televised event. Just to prove he is a man of his words.
Sadly, yet another New Zealand town has succumbed to the spread of contaminated drinking water. Hastings is now confirmed to have E-Coli contaminated water and has had to be chlorinated. Shame New Zealand!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/83384538/mayor-says-no-risk-as-hastings-flaxmere-water-tests-positive-for-campylobacter
Explains a lot. Peter Jackson didn’t had to look far to find his cast. Orcs and Goblin right next door! Lol
So yet again no one is accountable? How can you supply water to people without it being treated? Doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. This country really is a sick twisted backwater little shit hole.