Pure H2O

Possum carcass in water tank

4:00 AM Sunday May 23, 2010

For three days a rotting possum carcass sat in Kevin and Janis Bell's water tank.

Living in semi-rural Dairy Flat, 30km north of Auckland, they relied on the tank for their entire water supply - and continued to drink from it until noticing an overpowering smell.

"We noticed the smell and I realised the tank's lid wasn't on properly," says Janis.

To her horror she discovered the "maggot-ridden" remains and called in police.

What had begun as a minor dispute with their neighbour of six years, Darren John Tobin, had turned into a criminal investigation.

Tobin was arrested and charged with contaminating their water supply after the October 2008 incident.

After several hearings, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of intentional damage in the Auckland District Court this week.

He was ordered to pay reparation of $3725 and a further $3000 emotional harm to the couple, and placed on a nine-month good behaviour bond.

Defence lawyer Guyon Foley told the court: "After getting on well with this neighbour things turned sour ... bad blood went further.

"There was a history of dispute between the accused and the complainant as neighbours. This offending does appear to be aberant behaviour."

Josh Shaw, prosecuting, told the court the case was of a "very disturbing nature which carries a high risk of serious personal harm".

He said: "A water supply has been contaminated. They are the natural consequences of criminal behaviour and they are not out of proportion with the nature of the offence."

Judge Josephine Bouchier said: "I wouldn't call it a prank; leaving a dead possum in the water supply is not a prank.

"I have sat in a fair few courts around the North Island and I have never come across this."

Tobin, a sales director for wine label manufacturer Rapid Labels, is believed to be one of the first people to be charged with contaminating the water supply. The law was introduced in 2003.

He had 10 previous convictions, including three for drink-driving.

The lid on the water tank is now locked and the couple are far more wary about security - they requested no details were published on their exact whereabouts.

Speaking after the court hearing, Janis, a legal executive, said she was keen to put the experience behind them.

"I was the one who drank the water and I was the one who discovered it," she said.

"I live with that. You can't let this sort of thing ruin your life."

Source: NZ Herald, Sunday, May 23, 2010

Sewage in creek blamed for campground bug

8:44 AM Tuesday Jan 26, 2010

Sewage contaminating a creek running through a Nelson campground is thought to be responsible for a suspected outbreak of the stomach bug norovirus.

The Golden Bay Holiday Park remained closed today after holidaymakers became sick on Saturday night. Most campers left during the weekend, and a health protection officer was to reassess the situation today, the Nelson Mail reported.

Routine water quality testing by Tasman District Council staff on January 15 found high levels of E.coli contamination at the mouth of the Tukurua Stream, which runs through the campground.

The level was 700 most probable number (mpn), well above the 240mpn which would see the council start "intensive monitoring".

Council environment planning officer Dennis Bush-King said the council had been working on tracing where the contamination entered the creek and the results should be known today.

- NZPA

Source: NZ Herald, Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Many Kiwis drinking unsafe water

Water contamination

Disease threat from roof water, says study

5:00AM Thursday Jan 18, 2007

Drinking water collected from home roofs carries a significant risk of illness, according to a five-year study from Massey University.

The survey found that more than half of 560 samples from private dwellings exceeded the minimal standards for contamination and 30 per cent showed evidence of heavy faecal contamination.

"I'm utterly amazed at the number of roof water supplies that fail the New Zealand drinking water standards," said Stan Abbott, a microbiologist at the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health.

Roof-collected rainwater consumption was popular because the public believed that rainwater was pure and safe to drink, said Mr Abbott, who is director of the roof water research centre at Massey's Wellington campus.

More than 400,000 people depend on roof-collected rainwater systems for their drinking water, especially those living on farms, lifestyle blocks or baches that are not served by town water supplies.

The likely sources of the contamination were faecal material deposited by birds, frogs, rodents and possums, and dead animals and insects, either on the roof or in gutters or water tanks.

Mr Abbott said contamination could lead to gastrointestinal diseases from pathogens including salmonella, campylobacter, giardia and cryptosporidium.

"Simple steps such as installing down-pipe debris screens and a first-flush diverter will reduce the risk of contracting waterborne diseases," he said.

A first-flush diverter is a device that reduces contamination of the tank water by diverting the first flush of contaminated water after a rainfall so that contaminants do not enter the tank.

Recent research at Massey University has shown improvements in water quality in the storage tanks linked to first flush diverters.

Mr Abbott said that while few disease outbreaks linked to contaminated roof-collected rainwater had been reported, there was under-reporting of illnesses associated with contaminated roof water.

"The lack of evidence linking illness and poor quality roof water inhibits moves to improve systems delivering rainwater for consumption."

Although it was the homeowner's responsibility to ensure drinking water was clean, information on the safe collection and storage of roof-collected rainwater seemed not to be reaching many people, he said.

The Building Act requires premises to be provided with drinkable water.

Mr Abbott urged roof water users to reduce risks of disease from contaminated rainwater consumption by regular maintenance and using a well-designed system.