Napier City Council has ruled out compensating residents who have bought expensive water filters or switched to bottled water since the city's supply was chlorinated almost two years ago.
Napier's water was chlorinated in May 2017 after the Havelock North campylobacter outbreak, and residents have complained about discoloured, brown tap water - as well as negative health effects - ever since.
In February, 1 NEWS conducted a small, informal survey about the water issue among members of the Napier News group, with 222 people from almost every Napier suburb responding over the course of a week.
About three quarters said their home has been affected by water discolouration, and roughly the same number said it only began once the water was chlorinated.
About 73 per cent said they have concerns about the health effect of drinking chlorinated water, and 34 per cent said they have personally experienced negative health effects from it.
Respondents were asked if they think the council should compensate residents who have bought water filters or switched to bottled water - four out of five said yes.
Napier City Council Director of Infrastructure Services Jon Kingsford said the council will not be compensating residents for money spent on bottled water or filters, saying those measures are a personal choice.
"The water provided to our community is safe to drink and the choice to switch to filters or bottled water is a personal one," Mr Kingsford said.
"We understand that people would prefer to have unchlorinated water and that some residents will struggle with the change in taste and odour.
"Chlorine is used in water supplies all over New Zealand and the world and is a proven way to reduce the risk of water borne illnesses."
Residents were also asked whether they think the council has "badly mismanaged Napier's water supply" - 82 per cent said yes.
"Water networks are complicated and not easily changed so we are on a journey to get the network back into balance ... our experience is not dissimilar to examples overseas where chlorine has been introduced," Mr Kingsford said.
"We believe that our communications could have been better and insufficiencies have been addressed.
"We get that people are unsatisfied with the change but we also have to get on and do what is best for Napier as a whole and this sometimes means making decisions that are unpopular."
Mr Kingsford said plans to introduce chlorine-free public taps are on track for June this year - the location and designs are being finalised and the community will be informed "in due course".
The council has said the discolouration is due to biological buildup in the pipes interacting with chlorine and being washed out, and that drinking tap water which runs clear is harmless.
Lab testing commissioned by a concerned resident last year showed the discoloured water is high in potentially-toxic manganese - a point which had not previously been addressed by the council.
The revelation led experts to urge caution, especially around giving the water to infants, the elderly, or the otherwise infirm, and the council updated their advice to residents soon afterwards.
Figures released under the Official Information Act have shown that about $1000 per week is being spent by the council to flush water pipes due to discolouration.
RESIDENTS CYNICAL OF COUNCIL, MOST WANT COMPENSATION
Residents were then asked to tick all of the statements from a list which they agreed with:
"Chlorinating Napier's water supply was a necessary reaction to the Havelock North outbreak" - 28.8 per cent agreed.
"Chlorination of Napier's water supply was unnecessary and an over-reaction to the outbreak" - 52.7 per cent agreed.
"Napier City Council has badly mismanaged Napier's water supply" - 82.9 per cent agreed.
"Napier City Council has done all it can to provide residents with clean tap water" - 7.2 per cent agreed.
"Council members care about the community and the impact chlorination has had" - 6.3 per cent agreed.
"Council members seem oblivious to how chlorination has effected the community" - 68 per cent agreed.
"The government should step in and help resolve Napier's water supply issue" - 59.9 per cent agreed.
"These issues can be resolved without the interference of the government" - 20.7 per cent agreed.
A total of 222 responses were received from residents of almost every Napier suburb over the course of a week. The margin of error of the survey, with a population size of 62,000, is plus or minus 6.5 per cent.
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