An outbreak of E-coli in the water supply at the Deep Cove Outdoor Education Trust's school hostel has prompted the trust to employ sanitation experts and introduce boil-water notices.
Escherichia coli (E-coli) is a bacterium commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms. While most strains are harmless, some can cause serious food poisoning in humans.
A Southland school teacher told the Otago Daily Times about concerns the hostel's lake-fed water supply had E-coli.
Deep Cove Outdoor Education Trust chairman Paul Gay said the levels found in tests had been very low, and were unlikely to harm humans. The contamination could have come from fecal matter from possums and deer.
