Drinking water
Water used for drinking, teeth cleaning, hand washing, bathing, showering, food preparation and cooking needs to be free from harmful germs (such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Campylobacter, Salmonella and E.coli 0157) that can cause serious illness and chemicals (such as arsenic and nitrate).
There are new rules and standards which drinking-water suppliers must meet to keep our drinking-water safe. You can find out more about your community water supply here.
Taumata Arowai is the new water services regulator for Aotearoa - making sure all communities have access to safe drinking water. Taumata Arowai became fully operational when the Water Services Act 2021 was passed on 15 November 2021.
Members of the Health Protection Team are involved in;
- drinking water work by investigating any outbreak of a notifiable infectious disease, which includes water-borne diseases (such as Campylobacter and Giardia,
- being aware of Cyanobacterial blooms and issuing health warnings,
- submitting on resource consents and regional/district plans,
- providing information and advice to suppliers, consumers and members of the public on how to make drinking-water safe including; possible sources of contamination, Treatment, Sampling and monitoring,
- Transgression/contamination event response,
- Water conservation, and
- Water in an emergency
Resources
- Advice for drinking water suppliers following a flood event
- Advice for drinking water suppliers following a flood event - Bore water
- Advice for drinking water suppliers following a flood event - Rain water
- Annual Reports on Drinking-water Quality (Ministry of Health)
- Blueprint for Safe Drinking Water video (Ministry of Health)
- Boil Water Advisory Fact Sheet (Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand, Te Matau a Māui Hawke's Bay)
- Communicable Disease Information Sheets
- Cyanobacteria (Blue-green algae) in Hawke’s Bay waterways (HBRC)
- Water Services Act 2021
- Household Water Supplies information booklet (Ministry of Health)
- Ministry of Health Drinking Water Publications
- Saving water during water shortage while staying healthy poster (Ministry of Health)
- Secure Groundwater Bores and Wells for Safe Household Water information sheet (Ministry of Health)
- Water collection tanks and safe household water information sheet (Ministry of Health)
- Water Fluoridation (Ministry of Health)