A water tanker's stay in Kāeo has now been extended until 7pm on Friday. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
An iwi organisation in Kāeo has had to close its head office due to the town's ongoing water crisis.
Te Rūnanga o Whaingaroa pou arahi (cultural manager) Raniera Kaio said staff normally based in the main Leigh Street office were now working from other buildings around town.
The rūnanga's health clinics remained open because they were based in other buildings with backup rainwater tanks.
Kaio said the rūnanga had plans in place for such an event, given previous issues with the town's water supply.
He had been told by the Far North District Council that the water supply was likely to remain off until Friday.
Kāeo's water supply is privately owned but the council was ordered to intervene last month by the national water authority, Taumata Arowai, after publicity about the town's 10-year-long boil water notice.
Some residents say the town water supply has been off since 18 October, but that is disputed by the scheme's operator, Wai Care Environmental Consultants, which said it had been a matter of days.
Meanwhile, the council said a water tanker would be stationed in the town until the end of the week.
Originally the tanker was to have provided drinking water only until Monday evening.
The tanker would now be available on School Gully Road, opposite the Four Square, to anyone who needed to full up containers from 7am to 7pm daily until Friday.
David Sinclair, medical officer of health for Health New Zealand, advised residents affected by the outage to make use of the tanker.
Sinclair said the main health risks from water shortages came from not having enough clean water for cleaning, including clothes, dishes and the kitchen; personal hygiene, such as hand washing; food preparation; and drinking.
Dehydration from not drinking enough water and vomiting or diarrhoea, from contaminated water or food, were the main issues, especially in warm weather.
If drinking water was in short supply, he recommended it be prioritised for drinking, making up baby formula and sterilising baby bottles and teats, brushing teeth, washing hands and the body, preparing food, washing fruit and vegetables, and washing dishes.
- More information on staying healthy during water shortages
- How to treat other sources of water safely
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