Drinking water in New Zealand Information for the public

Drinking-water in New Zealand
Information for the public

Drinking-water Programme 2003 /04
(from Public Health Perspectives Vol 7 Number 1)

With the work on drafting the proposals for the Health [Drinking Water] Amendment Bill becoming well advanced, work is in progress to augment the Drinking-Water Standards for New Zealand 2000 to include sections on tankered water supplies, small self-contained drinking-water supply systems and the use of UV in drinking-water disinfection to provide for the requirements of the Bill when it is passed.
A consultative programme on the amendments to the standards is planned for later in this financial year. The revision of the standards will be timed to follow the publication of the 2003 revision of the WHO Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality, which will enable any fine-tuning of the New Zealand standards to use the latest WHO information available.

A major survey has been carried out of the competence and information needs of the people working with small water supplies, including the proposal to include self-supplied drinking-water systems in the compliance schedule requirements for all buildings except individual dwellings. The survey was a joint effort of the Ministry of Health, the New Zealand Water and Wastes Association and the Water and Plumbing Industry Training Organisations, and will be used to inform the development of qualification specifications and training programmes.
The drinking-water assessors will complete their post-graduate national diplomas this year and be undertaking their accreditation programme by International Accreditation New Zealand, to prepare them for their role under the new legislation. At this stage all the logistics underpinning the legislation will be in place.

See also: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry - New Drinking-water Bill in pipeline

International Colloquium: Protecting Public Health in Small Water Systems

Findings of an international colloquium on the management needs of small water supplies: Montana USA, May 2004.

This presentation can be downloaded as a Powerpoint file (compatible with Powerpoint 95 and 97-2000) or as a PDF file including presentation notes:

International Colloquium presentation (PDF, 360 kB)

International Colloquium Presentation (Powerpoint, 80 MB) Warning: large file size

Enteric Zoonotic Disease Research in New Zealand Pamphlet

(PDF ,340 kB)

Recent media releases relating to drinking-water:

01 December 2003: Drinking-water compliance increases significantly

12 June 2003: Successful trial for safe drinking water scheme in small isolated communities

10 January 2003: Drinking water survey encourages more monitoring

10 November 2002: The Proposed Health (Drinking Water) Amendment Bill

For updates from the national Water Information System New Zealand (WINZ) go to www.drinkingwater.org.nz

28 August 2002 : ESR Survey Report

(PDF, 227 kB)

September 2002: NZ Small Water Systems Survey

(PDF, 296 kB)

Drinking-Water Assessor Training Course Notes

The following training notes have been prepared to train drinking-water assessors

Because they contain much material that will be useful to water supply management and operators as well as to Environmental Health Officers and Health Protection Officers the Ministry is publishing them on this web site as useful reference material.

National Diploma in Drinking Water Assessment - tutor notes and assignments

Health educational resources

Pamphlets and fact-sheets on water-borne diseases, water treatment in emergency situations and other drinking-water related issues such as:

cryptosporidiosis

giardiasis

campylobacteriosis

legionellosis (relevant documents will be provided in due course)

household water supplies

secure groundwater - bores and wells

tank and roof water

public health grading of drinking-water supplies

fluoride

heavy metals in water - lead

water emergency issues

are available to download on the HealthEd website - www.healthed.govt.nz

Direct links to these resources are provided below.


Cryptosporidium	Giardia	Campylobacter

Household water supplies	Secure Groundwater - bores and wells	Water Collection Tanks and safe household water

Water Grading	Dental Health and Fluoride	Fluoride Gives You Better Teeth for Life

Lead and Lead Poisoning	Save Water and Stay Healthy	Protecting Your Health in an Emergency