Residents and businesses in Carterton are again being urgently advised to boil their drinking water until further notice.
In a statement this afternoon, Carterton District Council said the notice is expected to to remain for at least seven days due to E. coli detected in the water supply.
"This means boiling all water before being used for drinking, making baby formula, juice, ice, washing fruit and vegetables, other food reparation/cooking needs, or brushing teeth," the order said.
It comes after a notice was issued to residents of the Wairarapa town on 12 March, when E. coli was detected in the water supply. That order was lifted on Sunday.
"Last week, the council lifted its boil water notice after locating a potential faulty valve which resulted in a low-level E. coli bacteria reading in its town supply," today's council statement said.
"Despite repairing the valve and increasing the flushing regime by 50 per cent, the council received a low-level E. coli reading in one of our sampling points in Fisher Place at around 1pm.
"The Drinking Water Standard for New Zealand require E. coli levels to be less than 1 MPN/100ml (Most Probable Number). Today’s sample reading was at 1 MPN/100ml. The risk to the community is extremely low but the council is taking a precautionary approach."
The council said a "thorough investigation" alongside experts in water and wastewater from Lutra will be carried out into the cause.
"The council team have eliminated a number of potential contamination sources and have located and fixed two probable contamination sources," Lutra chief executive Jason Colton said.
"This latest positive result shows that there is least one other potential contamination source in the water supply network that needs to be located and rectified. This is proving challenging to locate."
The council's infrastructure, services and regulatory manager, Dave Gittings, said the council is "extremely disappointed and surprised" to receive another low-level E. coli reading.
"We urge people to follow the boil water instructions and to check on your neighbours and older family members," he said.
"We have alerted the district health board and the local medical centre as a precaution and we are taking all steps necessary to keep our community safe."
The risk of getting sick from drinking the water is low but possible, especially for vulnerable people, including babies, young children, pregnant women, the elderly and people who have weakened immune systems are more at risk of illness.
Anyone who experiences diarrhoea, vomiting or a fever is urged to get advice from a doctor or contact Healthline on 0800 611 116.
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