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Last modified: 29 Jul 2020 10:28am

water poured into glass in sink

To avoid any water quality issues as result of lockdown, we encourage all business/school and child care centres to run taps and to flush toilets to refill water pipes with fresh water before drinking or using water.

This advise applies to all properties  connected to Council water supplies, as well as privet water supplies.

Water could become stagnant due to sitting in pipe for long time and might causes the below water quality issues:

  • Poor tasting (may taste metallic or earthy)
  • Bad smell
  • Brown or dirty appearance
  • May have grown biofilm (small naturally grown vegetative matter)
  • Excessive amount of heavy metals

To avoid any water quality issue as result of a lockdown:

All business/school and child care centres who connected to Council water supplies are required to:

  • Sufficiently flush all taps/faucets until the water becomes clear or appears normal
    Please note flushing may take longer if you have a large premises or there are still water quality issues after flushing has been completed.
  • When flushing taps it is recommended to use an outdoor tap which is at the furthest point from the road and any faucets (or fountains) that you drink from.

You might also need to consider below actions

  • Remove tap aerators, point-of-use filters and shower hoses where possible, as this will allow the water to flow faster and limit the amount of sediment trapped by these fixtures.
  • “Where the pipes on a premises are made of galvanized steel, people may notice some temporarily discoloured water coming from their taps, so keep running the water to clear it.”
  • Flush all outlets individually
  • Flush cold water outlets first then hot water

Private supplies may need to refer to this advice from the Ministry of Health on flushing your taps after COVID19 Lockdown.

Additional considerations:

Sometimes water sitting in floor drains can create a smell, particularly if a building has been closed up for couple of weeks. If this happens we would advise opening windows, flush toilets and pour water into the drains.

It is also a good opportunity to check for any leaks, both inside and outside the building.