Springfield has been subject to its fourth boil water notice following the May 30 and 31 floods last year, with many residents relying on a potable water tanker outside the community hall installed by the Selwyn District Council as a temporary measure.
Murky water runs from residents' taps whenever it rains. They say boiling does not take away the turbidity, and the district council is not prioritising their concerns.
However, the district council says it has multiple projects under way to improve the supply and has been actively investigating alternate water sources.
The last precautionary boil water notice was issued on February 5 and was still in place on Monday - 16 days later.
This followed a notice on December 15, lasting eight days, and two earlier notices in 2021 from July 16 to 23 and June 22 to 30.
Resident Amy Albon said on day 10 of the notice last week the tap water at her house was the worst it had been since the 2021 floods.
She could not bathe her four-year-old son as she feared it would make a skin infection he was suffering from worse.
"I don’t have clean water to fill up a bath and wash him in or anything like that because the water looks dirtier than what he is," Albon said.
It was unacceptable that residents were forced to fill up drink bottles at the tanker or buy bottled water, she said.
"It’s awful. I just feel like we are on the outskirts of the Selwyn district and we are really not thought about.
"Rolleston has all of its clean water, everywhere else has clean water."
Fellow resident Bridget Hayward said she has been buying bottled water for the family and pets to drink, as well as for cooking and doing dishes.
The potable water tanker was saving her money, but it was still a "hassle" to have to use it.
"Every time it rains our toilet always looks like it hasn’t been flushed, it’s a disgusting yellow brown colour," Hayward said.
Springfield Township Committee chairman Graeme Dawson was among about 30 people who attended a regular Malvern Community Board drop-in session on Monday last week, where residents had been invited along to air their concerns.
Dawson said he was satisfied with the actions the district council was taking to rectify the matter.
Council group manager infrastructure Murray Washington said the boil water notices had been issued because of high levels of sediment in the supply source of the Kowai River, stirred up by rain events since the floods, potentially as a result of upstream landslips.
"There have also been changes in the way national drinking water standards are monitored and regulated that mean earlier and more frequent water quality notices are now required," Washington said.
The district council had begun construction of a new 500m3 treated water reservoir and two new 30m3 raw-water storage tanks, altogether costing $780,000, due to be completed by June.
"Having additional stored water will help prevent or reduce the time that supply will be interrupted by providing more clean water while we are unable to take water from the river in rain events," he said.
In addition, $2 million to $4 million of capital works could go ahead for a new membrane plant, offering better filtration than the existing filter system, pending results of a trial that was under way.
"So far the results from the trial have been positive and, if the trial is successful, the council will then consider installing the plant permanently."
