Quality of New Zealand's Drinking-Water

30 January 2007

Steady Improvement in the Quality of New Zealand's Drinking-Water

The quality of New Zealand's drinking-water is improving steadily, according to the Annual Review of Drinking-Water Quality in New Zealand 2005, which provides the most up to date information on the quality of our tap water.

There has been a two per cent increase in the numbers of people who were supplied with safe drinking-water during 2005.

The review assesses the microbiological health risk in water against two criteria - E Coli bacteria and the water borne protozoa Cyrptosporidium. The Ministry of Health maintains a register of community drinking-water supplies in New Zealand. In 2005, the register contained a large number of distribution zones and water treatment plants which cover 89 per cent of New Zealand's population or about 3.6 million New Zealanders. It also looked at the chemical composition of drinking-water.

Registering a water supply will be a requirement under proposed new legislation (Health (Drinking-Water) Amendment Bill) currently before Parliament.

Around 76 per cent of Kiwis have safe drinking-water that complies with the E Coli criteria, this is up 2 per cent since 2004 and 71 per cent of Kiwis have tap water that complies with Cyrptosporidium criteria.

Paul Prendergast, the Ministry of Health's Principal Public Health Engineer says that does not necessarily mean that 24 per cent of New Zealanders received unsafe drinking-water in 2005, it simply means water suppliers did not demonstrate that the water was safe.

"Of the non-compliant water suppliers, most were from small rural water supplies or domestic supplies that were either not monitored or inadequately monitored", says Mr Prendergast.

The Annual Review of Drinking-Water Quality found that of the nine hospitals or health services that were not connected to municipal drinking-water supplies, three failed to comply with the bacteriological requirements of the drinking-water standards.

Mr Prendergast says, "there has been a very slight improvement in school drinking-water quality. Of the 640 schools with their own water supplies, 58 per cent had conducted some bacteriological monitoring. This has increased by three per cent since 2003, but only increased by one per cent since 2004."

"Safe drinking-water is the cornerstone of public health and we must ensure that drinking-water standards are complied with to reduce the spread of water-borne diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, or protozoan parasites including Campylobacter, Salmonella, E.Coli 0:157, Giardia, Norovirus and Cyrptosporidium. Other diseases can include hepatitis A and dysentery.

Question and Answer Fact Sheet

Annual Review of Drinking-Water Quality

1. How was the information gathered to produce the annual review?

The information about the quality of drinking-water in New Zealand is obtained from public health units of District Health Boards using questionnaires on the performance of water suppliers. The survey gathers information on both distribution zones and water treatment plants. In 2005, the Register of Community Drinking-Water Supplies in New Zealand contained 2269 distribution zones and 2208 water treatment plants.

2. What is a registered water supplier?

The Ministry of Health maintains a register of all water suppliers that it is aware of that serve 25 people or more for at least 60 days each year. Water suppliers fall into two groups: local authorities and private organisations or communities responsible for the operation of their own drinking-water supplies. The register of suppliers includes town and rural water supplies, food outlets, schools, Marae, sports clubs, hospitals, hotels, motels and camping grounds. Proposed legislation currently before Parliament would make it mandatory for water suppliers to be registered. Currently, it is voluntary.

3. What are the Drinking-Water Standards New Zealand (DWSNZ) : 2000 standards?

The Drinking Water Standards for New Zealand 2000 replaced the 1995 standards. The standards list maximum concentrations of chemical, radiological and microbiological contaminants acceptable for public health in drinking-water. The standards detail how to assess the quality and safety of drinking-water which is intended for human consumption, personal and oral hygiene, food preparation and utensil washing.

4. What about the Drinking-Water Standards for New Zealand (DWSNZ) : 2005 standards?

The next annual review of drinking-water quality will give water suppliers the choice on which standards they wish to be assessed against. This will ensure a smooth transition from the DWSNZ : 2000 Standards to the DWSNZ : 2005 Standards. There will be a period of time given to water suppliers in which to make the change but it is yet to be determined.

5. When will the Ministry of Health release the next annual review?

The next annual review will cover an 18-month period, rather than the usual calendar year, as has been the case in previous years. The next annual review will cover the period from 1 January 2006 to 30 June 2007. It is anticipated it will be released publicly by the end of 2007. The annual review will then be prepared on an annual basis timed to fit in with local government's financial year.

6. Is the Ministry of Health still concerned about the quality of drinking-water in New Zealand?

Safe drinking-water is the cornerstone of public health. The government is committed to ensuring that all New Zealanders have access to safe drinking-water. Failure to maintain high microbiological standards by not managing bacteria and viruses leads to the potential for outbreaks of disease if the water becomes contaminated by pathogens that the community has not become immune to. In 2005, the Government committed $154 million over ten years to improve small water drinking supplies. The Drinking-Water Assistance Programme applies to small water supplies servicing a population of up to 5,000. A Technical Assistance Programme has also been set up, which offers advice to small water suppliers on the operation, management and upgrading of their water supplies and provides assistance for small water suppliers to write their Public Health Risk Management Plans.

7. What other activities are underway to improve the quality of drinking-water? The Annual Review of Drinking-Water Quality in New Zealand 2005 is part of an organised campaign that started in 1992 to improve the quality of the country's drinking-water. The review covers the fourth year that the microbiological and chemical quality of drinking-water was assessed using the Drinking-Water Standards for New Zealand 2000 (DWSNZ : 2000). Other ways New Zealand's drinking-water safety has developed since 1993 are -

* The Drinking-Water Standards for New Zealand 1995 and 2000 * The new Drinking-Water Standards for New Zealand 2005 * External surveillance by Health Protection Officers * A register of Community Drinking-Water Supplies * Public Health Grading of Community Water Supplies * An Annual Report on the Microbiological and Chemical Quality of Drinking-Water Supplies in New Zealand * Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality Management in New Zealand * Register of Ministry of Health Recognised Laboratories for drinking-water compliance test * National electronic water quality information database (WINZ) * Public Health Risk Management Plans for drinking-water supplies * Drinking-Water Assistance Programme *Health (Drinking-Water) Amendment Bill is currently before Parliament

8. What about hospitals and health services with drinking-water supplies that do not comply? At the end of 2005, nine hospitals and health services were not connected to the municipal drinking-water supplies. Of these, three failed to comply bacteriologically with the DWSNZ : 2000. The Waiheke Health Trust was found to contain E.Coli during 2005. The Princess Margaret Hospital and Ashburton Hospital water supplies were inadequately monitored.

9. What is the current status of Public Health Risk Management Plans? The Health (Drinking-Water) Amendment Bill is currently before Parliament. The forthcoming legislation is expected to require each water supply to be covered by a quality assurance programme contained in a public health risk management plan. There is currently no legal requirement for water suppliers to have a public health risk management plan in place, but they are advisable. At the end of 2005, 256 or 11.3% of suppliers had initiated work on a plan.

10. What about school drinking-water standards? The safety of school drinking-water supplies is the responsibility of each school's Board of Trustees. Where a major upgrade is necessary, such as a new bore, the Ministry of Education will undertake the work under its capital works programme.

Many schools have installed ultraviolet treatment in conjunction with cartridge filtration and the drinking-water standards recognised UV treatment as a legitimate way of meeting protozoa compliance when the new DWSNZ : 2005 standards came into force. Water suppliers considering installing UV treatment would be wise to assess the UV-treatment device to ensure it meets the new protozoa compliance criteria before installation.

ENDS

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