'Brown and disgusting' water coming out of Palmerston North taps

Residents across Palmerston North are complaining brown water has been coming out of their taps - or no water at all.

On Tuesday morning, Takaro resident Jennie Bracken woke up to no water coming from her taps, and found brown water coming out hours later.

"It was bursting and gurgling and everything, And when it did come on later, it was just so brown and disgusting.

"I let it run for a while, and it was no better."

Bracken said she had no notification from the Palmerston North Council that it would happen.

She had to wait until later in the day to have a shower, and luckily had some water in her jug from the day before to make a coffee, she said.

"The issue needs to be sorted, and the people need to be advised if this sort of thing's going to happen."

In 2024/25, Palmerston North ratepayers paid fixed charges of $415 for drinking water and $375 for wastewater, according to the Central Districts Water website.

Three Waters group manager Mike Monaghan said the reason for the brown water on Tuesday was overnight repairs.

"Our water team carried out a major trunk main repair overnight on Tuesday in Takaro. During this work, the area's water was supplied from the Turitea Water Treatment Plant, rather than the usual Takaro Bore.

"When supply was returned to the bore following the repair, some areas experienced discolouration."

Monaghan said crews flushed pipes across the city until 6pm on Tuesday, but it was not always possible to remove all discoloured water from the network immediately.

Residents who noticed discoloured water were asked to run an outside tap until it ran clean, he said.

"In Palmerston North, discolouration is caused by small amounts of iron and manganese that build up in pipes over time. Changes in water flow, such as what happened during this repair, can disturb these minerals."

On the other side of the city in Milson, resident Bev Smith said the water quality had been an on-and-off problem for years.

Last year, Smith said she she let the council know she had brown water coming from her taps, and it quickly sent someone over to clear out the nearby pipes.

However, this time around when Smith reached out, she said she had received no response.

"It was my grandson, actually, he was filling up the hand basin and he started yelling and saying, 'look at this'."

After letting the tap run for 30 minutes, Smith's water looked clearer.

However, Smith said doing that was not good for water conservation.

The council's website stated sometimes residents' water may look discoloured or smell strong, but that it was temporary and not a health risk.

The website said chlorine reacted with iron and maganese built up in the pipes, causing brownish water.

It advised residents to run their outside cold tap for 20 minutes, and postpone doing laundry until the water runs clear, so it didn't stain clothes.

To reduce the taste or smell of chlorine, it told residents to consider buying a drinking water filter or whole house filter.

It also suggested boiling water to reduce the chlorine odour.

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