Boil Water Notice FAQs

During boil water notices you should boil all water used for drinking, preparing food, making baby formula and juices, cooking, making ice, washing fruits and vegetables, or brushing teeth. Make your ice cubes with boiled water. Hot water from your tap is not safe to drink during a boil water advisory as the temperature of your hot water cylinder is not high enough to kill germs.

Boiling will kill all disease-causing organisms. Bring water to a rolling boil for a minimum of one minute. Electric jugs with a cut-off switch can be used as long as they are full - allow the water to come to the boil and switch off. Once it’s cooled store the water in clean containers in your fridge.

We will publish updates on our Facebook page and on our website

Each boil notice situation is different which makes it hard to predict how long the boil order will remain in effect. It will be lifted when the water tests show the water is safe to drink

Thorough handwashing using tap water and soap, followed by thorough drying is sufficient. Other options include using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser containing at least 60% alcohol.

If bottled or boiled water is not available, to make water safer for hand washing (especially for those who are immunocompromised), you can add a few drops of plain household bleach to a bowl of water (see hand-chlorinating advice)

Adults and older children may shower/bathe with untreated water, but do not swallow the water (avoid the face). Young children should be sponge-bathed because they can often swallow bath water. If you have recent surgical wounds or a chronic illness, you may want to bathe in bottled or boiled water.
For washing babies, if bottled or boiled water is not available, consider hand chlorinating a bowl of water for this use (see hand chlorinating advice)

Only use boiled or bottled water for brushing your teeth. You can shave as usual using tap water.

No. Filtered water should also be boiled for one minute before using it.
Most household treatment units, such as carbon filters (which are often used to remove chlorine) or cartridge filters (used to remove sediment), do not remove or disinfect bacteria or other microbial contaminants. If you are not sure what the filter does, assume it is not safe to drink and boil the filtered water before drinking it

Fruits and vegetables should be washed using cooled, boiled water. Use boiled water if adding to foods that will not be cooked. Tap water can only be used in foods that will be thoroughly cooked. Do not use ice, food or drinks that may have been made from contaminated tap water.

If breastfeeding, continue as usual. If you are using baby formula, prepare using bottled or cooled, boiled water. Wash and sterilise bottles and teats by boiling or
microwaving.

Coffee machines, ice makers and soda dispensers that are connected to the water supply should not be used. Use bottled water or water that has been boiled or disinfected for making coffee, ice or soda drinks.
Coffee makers do not heat the water hot enough or for long enough to effectively treat it.

Dishes washed with tap water and detergent should be rinsed in a bleach solution afterwards (1/2 teaspoon unscented household bleach per 10 litres of water). Allow dishes to completely air dry.

If your dishwasher has a hot/sanitizer setting, it can be used to wash dishes. If your dishwasher does not have a hot setting, after finishing cycle, rinse the dishes in sterilised water afterwards (1/2 teaspoon unscented household bleach per 10 litres of water). Allow dishes to completely air dry.

No, continue doing your laundry the way you usually do.

Phone Council’s Customer Service Team on 03 769 8600 and ask.

Pets and livestock can usually drink untreated water. If your pet is unwell, has vomiting and diarrhoea, contact your veterinarian. Make sure you wash your hands well after handling your pet and use rubber or disposable gloves if you are cleaning up after it.

Run all your cold taps for a few minutes before using the water. Flush any appliances that are connected to the water supply. Hot water cylinders and header tanks may need to be drained and refilled. You may notice a strong chlorine smell in the water as it runs through. The council will increase chlorine levels for some time to disinfect the pipework.

Sometimes bottled water is not available and/or the power is out and water cannot be boiled. Sometimes a large amount of water is needed and it’s not convenient to boil large amounts (e,g. for bathing). In these cases, hand chlorinating of water with household bleach can be used as a backup. It does not provide as good a treatment as boiling but is much better than doing nothing. Note- It is better to wash hands using water straight from the tap after using the toilet or changing nappies than not washing them at all if this is the only option.

When hand chlorinating water for drinking in an emergency (when boiling or bottled water is not an option) you should use plain unscented household bleach. When hand chlorinating a bowl or bucket of water for washing, plain unscented bleach is also preferred but you may not have any to hand and may need to use what you have in the house. If you are going to the supermarket to buy bleach, look out for ones without scents, preservatives, surfactants and additives. Even the plain unscented ones contain sodium hypochlorite (the useful bleach bit), sodium hydroxide (a preservative) and sodium laureth sulphate (the surfactant that makes it foam). One supermarket brand has no additives and also has instructions for use in emergency drinking water supply so this would be preferred for use.

If you are using ‘strong’ household bleach note that this is stronger than normal bleach so you may need to use less. If you are using bleach that has been open for a long time it will be much less strong so you might need to add more. You can safely double the recommended dose described below without any health effects, so you don’t need to worry too much about being exact or knowing the bleach strength.

To disinfect the water, add 5 drops of bleach to 1 litre of water or 1/2 teaspoon to 10 litres of water (a bucket is generally about 10 litres). Stir and leave the water to stand for at least 5 minutes, preferably 30 minutes, before drinking or using in any other way (this allows the chlorine time to work to kill the bugs).

It’s recommended that you clean your tank every 2-3 years to reduce the amount of sediment in it.

You can learn how to clean your tank and chlorinate water from the Ministry of Health's Household Water Supplies booklet.