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Otago Daily Times
01-07-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
‘Ill bowels' spurs switch away from tap water
Waitahuna Wonders owner Caroline Mann holds what she says is unsafe tap water, and alternative bottled water, at the pop-up shop in Waitahuna yesterday. Photo: Richard Davison An Otago resident on one of the country's worst water schemes says she has switched to bottled water to prevent diarrhoea. Waitahuna resident Caroline Mann said she made the switch several months ago, after she and other residents of the rural township near Lawrence noticed continual issues with "ill bowels". On Monday, water regulator Taumata Arowai published its 2024 national drinking water report, which showed the Clutha District Council was responsible for 338, or 59.8%, of the country's drinking water quality breaches. The supply with the most E. coli notifications nationwide was Waitahuna Rural (15), which is owned by the council, and is on a permanent boil-water notice. Waitahuna Rural also continues to breach standards for aluminium in its drinking water. Ms Mann said she had begun to sell bottled water to cyclists passing on the Clutha Gold Trail, which runs in front of her business, Waitahuna Wonders, as she did not want to give them tap water for fear of harm. "Over summer, we often get asked to fill up bottles by cyclists, but I tell them I don't want to poison them, because the tap water is diabolical. "Appropriately, our logo and sign is a skeleton cyclist — unless you stick to the bottles." She said tap water was often brown, and sometimes stopped altogether when the local pumping station broke down. "When we do have to use it we always boil it. But there's an additional expense to boiling water, or buying in bottles, so it would be nice if the council acknowledged that in our rates somehow." Other residents on Clutha water schemes receiving a black mark from the report were more sanguine regarding their water quality, blaming "gold standard" regulations for breaches. Retired Crichton farmer Stephen Woodhead, whose lifestyle block is on the North Bruce scheme near Milton, said he and his family were "very comfortable" with domestic water quality. North Bruce breached aluminium levels 64 times last year, and had two breaches for "disinfection by-product". "We boil our water anyway, although we use tap water for brushing our teeth, etc. We've noticed no ill effects," Mr Woodhead said. "The consent breaches are arising because these are stock water schemes that, over time, have come to supply homes also. The standards for domestic supply have risen to a level that is unnecessary for stock, leading to a requirement for multimillion-dollar investment in infrastructure upgrades that are going to impact heavily on our rural communities. "Yes, we need good regulation, but we need sensible rules that also allow for workable transition times that don't burden ratepayers unfairly." He said a "middle ground" needed to be found. "We should all be capturing rainwater off our roofs, for toilet and garden use. You have the situation now where some water is treated to very high standards, then people are watering their roses with it." Mr Woodhead's comments echoed Clutha District Mayor Bryan Cadogan's response to the report on Monday. He described the jump in standards as "like trying to turn a car into an aeroplane". Taumata Arowai head of operations Steve Taylor said Clutha was working hard to make improvements. A new, fully compliant, water scheme was expected to supply Waitahuna and other problem areas from December this year. "Considerable work has been completed by the council in the past six months. We will continue to work closely with Clutha District Council as it addresses issues across its supplies."
Telegraph
17-03-2025
- Telegraph
Border guard who broke ankle in 14-hour migrant rescue wins £80k payout
The judge, Registrar Richard Davison, said there was no reason why a handrail had not been attached to make it safer for Mr Quartermain to get onto the boat. London's Admiralty Court, a specialist branch of the High Court which deals with maritime disputes, heard Mr Quartermain had been employed a seaman all his working life. He was engaged in patrolling the Channel in June 2021, when he was called out in a rigid inflatable boat (RIB) at around 2am. 'Foreseeable risk of slipping' Giving evidence, he told the judge it had been 'a particularly busy day,' that his team had been 'constantly backwards and forwards' and on at least their third small boat rescue of the day when he was hurt 14-and-a-half hours later. He returned to Dover with migrants from a craft and disembarked them all, save for one who had been injured in their crossing and needed medical attention. While escorting a paramedic to the boat, known as HMC Alert, he slipped as he stepped onboard via a storage container called a 'baton box'. 'The claimant submits that the deck and baton box had become befouled with vomit, urine, fuel or other contaminants, causing a foreseeable risk of slipping,' said Benjamin Rose, Mr Quartermain's barrister. 'Handrail would have arrested the fall slightly' Mr Rose added that 'a handle or guard rail ought to have been affixed to the baton box to allow for safe boarding and disembarkation.' In his evidence, Mr Quartermain said had the boat's removable handrail been attached at the time, he would have grabbed it as he boarded. 'I believe a handrail would have, if not prevented it, would have arrested that fall slightly and not had such consequences,' he said. The seaman, who was an officer in the Border Force Marine Command at the time, required 11 weeks off work after the accident. But he went on to suffer further problems, he claimed. He had to have a bone spur removed and became concerned about his mobility, which led to his retirement in 2023. 'Confidence and ability to do the job was affected' 'My confidence was affected and my ability to help my colleagues,' he said. 'I wanted to remain at sea. That's what I have known, but there wasn't much in the way of adjustments they could do.' He said he realised 'actually I'm not sure if I can do my job as well as I used to'. For the Home Office, barrister Alex Littlefair claimed the handrail could have been used 'as a weapon' if left attached. 'Whatever method the Home Office took, there was necessarily going to be some balancing of the risk,' he said. 'If the handrail was left there, somebody might use it as a weapon.' 'No real reason why it wasn't fitted' The Home Office also claimed that, because the vessel was engaged in search and rescue, its duty was limited to having to act 'so far as is reasonably practicable to ensure the health and safety of the worker when performing that activity.' Giving judgement following a trial at the Admiralty Court, Registrar Davison found in favour of Mr Quartermain on his claim. Although the boat was still engaged in search and rescue operations, health and safety risks could have been better mitigated by attaching the removable handrail. 'There seems to be no real reason why it wasn't fitted on this occasion,' he said.
