Restrictions and boil water notices

If you receive a boil water notice, boil all water used for drinking, preparing food, cooking, making up infant formula, handwashing, and cleaning teeth. Boil water even if you can smell chlorine in it. Continue to boil water until advised the water is safe again.

Boil water in a full electric jug until it switches off. Do not hold the switch down to increase the boiling time.

Or bring water to a rolling boil in a clean metal pan (where bubbles appear in the centre and do not disappear when the water is stirred) for one minute.

Then cool the water (don’t use ice cubes to do this) and pour into clean container with a lid and refrigerate until needed.

Pets and livestock can usually drink untreated water and we don’t expect animals to be at risk during a boil water notice.

If you get diarrhoea, vomiting and/or a fever, get advice from your doctor or Healthline (0800 611 116).

Babies, young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people who have weakened immune systems are more at risk of illness from drinking potentially contaminated water.

We recommend that you continue to boil your water until the water in the tank has turned over. You’ll need to know the size of your tank and have an understanding of how much water you use on average, to estimate how much longer you should continue to boil your drinking water. Alternatively, you can add additional chlorine (unscented plain bleach) to your tank using Household Water Supplies (Ministry of Health) instructions (page 17). It’s recommended that private tanks are inspected annually and cleaned if necessary, with a focus on removing any accumulated sediment. Page 17 in the Household Water Supplies resource has further information on this.

You can’t rely on a water filter to destroy any potential micro-organisms (bacteria, protozoa, and viruses) in the water and so filtered water should also be boiled before use. Water filters should be regularly maintained and replaced as per the manufacturer’s instructions. It’s not expected that filters will require additional maintenance or action beyond the manufacturer’s instructions, following the lifting of a boil water notice.