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Water
Paerewa inu wai

Drinking water standards

New Plymouth District Council is committed to providing safe drinking water.

In order to have safe drinking water the New Plymouth District Council has developed and implemented a Water Safety Plan for all four of the districts water supplies.  The purpose of the Water Safety Plan is to summarise the processes in place to assure the consumer that any risk to the safety of the drinking water supply is either eliminated or mitigated to as low as reasonably practicable and to ensure NPDC meets their obligations under the Health Act 1956 Section 69Z.

NPDC are currently compliant with the most recent New Zealand Drinking Water Standards and are assessed every quarter by a Drinking Water Assessor.

Water supplied from the New Plymouth, Inglewood, Ōākura and Okato water treatment plants are continuously monitored for free available chlorine residual, pH and turbidity.

Water supplied from Okato and Ōākura water treatment Plants are also continually monitored for UV dose.

The reticulation system is routinely monitored for bacteriological organisms, including E Coli and Total Coliforms. NPDC also carry out field testing for Free Available Chlorine, pH and Turbidity. While it is not a requirement of the New Zealand Drinking Water Standards, NPDC also monitors for nitrate levels and a variety of metals in the reticulation.

A Register of Drinking Water Suppliers for New Zealand can be viewed on the Environmental Science and Research website. The MoH conducts an annual review of all drinking water suppliers on this register. You can view detailed information about the Annual Review of Drinking Water Quality in New Zealand on the Ministry of Health website.  

If you require a higher level of treatment than that required by the Drinking Water Standards for New Zealand, you will need to install the requisite treatment facilities on your own site as our bylaw states:  'If a customer has a particular requirement for an uninterrupted level of service, (flow, pressure or quality) it will be the responsibility of that customer to provide any necessary storage, back-up facilities or equipment.’

 

Drinking water quality

New Plymouth District Council’s laboratory samples the tap water from all four treatment plants twice per month and analyses it for pH, alkalinity, temperature, dissolved solids, calcium, magnesium, total hardness and nitrates.

Analysis results for the last year is shown in document below. The quality parameters are fairly consistent, with minor seasonal variations.

Tap water report August 2022

 

Schools and businesses that have been empty for an extended period need to have their water systems flushed, for the health of staff and students. Here are guidelines from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment:

Drinking water advice

Flushing building water systems post COVID lockdown

Flush your taps each morning

 

The Ministry of Health advises that some plumbing fittings have the potential to allow minute traces of metals to accumulate in water standing in the fittings for several hours.

Although the health risk is small, the Ministry recommends that you flush a mug full of water from your drinking-water tap each morning before use to remove any metals that may have dissolved from the plumbing fittings.

The Ministry is recommending this simple precaution for all households in New Zealand, including those on public and private water supplies.

This advice is provided throughout the country.

Page last updated: 01:18am Mon 05 September 2022

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06 759 6060 enquiries@npdc.govt.nz
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84 Liardet Street
New Plymouth

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