Small water supply survey reports

Small water supply survey reports

The following survey reports discuss small drinking-water supplier's responses to the proposal to develop drinking-water legislation under the Health Act (The Health (Drinking Water) Amendment Bill - (HDWAB)) to provide a statutory basis for the drinking-water quality management procedures administered by the Ministry of Health and to strengthen and integrate the existing fragmentary and outdated legislation on drinking-water.

Annual surveys by the Ministry of Health have shown that the smaller water supplies feature highly in the assessment of public health risk, and are the least likely to be able to improve. At Cabinet's direction a working party was set up in 2000 to monitor and evaluate the impact of the proposed legislation on local communities during the five year lead-in period of the HDWAB and report back annually to Cabinet Social Policy and Health Committee on those suppliers not complying with the new legislation; the reasons for their noncompliance; and actions taken to effect compliance.

At its first meeting on 18th March 2002 the working party on the implementation of the HDWAB, (which later became SAWTAC) asked the Ministry to arrange for a survey of drinking-water supplies. The survey was to obtain information that would assist the working party to assess the scope of the problems that were likely to be faced by drinking-water suppliers in implementing the legislation when it was promulgated.

SAWTAC received and commended these reports and asked that the Ministry make them widely available.

New Zealand small water systems survey

(PDF, 394 kB)

Framework for gathering information on management of small drinking-water supplies

(PDF, 324 kB)

Related information

Health statistics

Drinking-water in New Zealand