A boil water notice affecting several eastern suburbs has been lifted for all but 20 properties, days after regular testing found bacteria.
In an update this afternoon, the Christchurch City Council said a notice issued on Saturday affecting the Rawhiti water supply zone had been lifted.
"Christchurch City Council has had three clear days of sampling from the wider Rawhiti zone and isolated the source of the issue so residents in the New Brighton, Burwood, Wainoni, Aranui and Southshore areas no longer need to boil water," the council said.
Investigations were ongoing, the council said, but the bacteria was believed to be linked to recent work carried out on the network.
"The council has done significant sampling throughout the zone and we are now confident the contamination is isolated to a small area.
"Approximately 20 properties will need to keep boiling their water. We will be communicating with these residents directly."
The notice was issued on Saturday after regular testing detected total coliforms, a group of bacteria commonly found in the environment. Their presence in the water network served as an indicator of potential contamination and the possible existence of harmful pathogens.
The notice covered the multiple eastern suburbs, including New Brighton, Burwood, Wainoni, Aranui and Southshore. An emergency mobile alert was sent shortly before 1pm on Saturday warning of a public health risk and instructing all residents to boil their drinking water.
In an update on Sunday afternoon, the council said water sampling across the wider Rawhiti zone was "looking good", but a second positive result at the same location meant the notice could not yet be lifted.
"The notice will then be lifted once we can provide confidence to Taumata Arowai that the water is safe to drink. Part of this assessment will be ensuring we also have at least three days of good results," the council said.
The council would reopen the community drinking water station at 345 Keyes Rd, allowing residents to fill containers with chlorine‑free water confirmed safe to drink.
"Our focus remains on ensuring everyone is aware of the health risk. Staff and contractors are continuing to investigate possible causes and are undertaking further sampling across the zone," it said.
Residents were instructed to boil water used for drinking, food preparation and hygiene.
“Boil all water for drinking, making up formula, juices and ice, washing fruits and vegetables, other cooking needs, and brushing teeth. All water (including filtered) needs to be continuously boiled for at least 1 minute.”
The alert warned, "'Instant' boil water systems do not boil water sufficiently".
"It is OK to use jugs with an automatic cut-off switch as long as they are full. Do not hold the switch down to increase boiling time."
Around 30,000 residents were in the notice area, according to the most recent Census data.
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