A shift from establishment to system improvement.
Over the past year, the Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowai (the Authority) has focused on driving an overall lift in drinking water safety.
This has involved progressing a number of key initiatives, including working with council suppliers to ensure they have critical treatment barriers in place, consulting on and confirming an improved set of acceptable solutions, and making the rules clearer and simpler for small and medium supplies.
The Authority will launch a consultation on improvements to the rules for large supplies before the end of 2025.
Looking ahead, Steve Taylor, the Authority’s Head of Operations, says that drinking water suppliers and the New Zealand public can expect to see a step change in regulatory approach.
‘We were, and still are, a small regulator with a big job. And while there is still much to do, we are making real progress. We are moving from establishing the foundations of a regulatory system to ensuring the system drives real improvements and safer water for many more people in New Zealand,’ Taylor says.
‘We want to see an increase in suppliers taking practical, appropriate actions to ensure public health risks are effectively managed.
‘Over the next few years, we will increase our monitoring of water quality and lift the visibility of contamination where it exists. We expect to see a reduced need for consumer advisories, such as boil water advisories, because by 2028, all public drinking water supplies will have basic treatment barriers in place that are monitored and effective.
‘At the same time, we are working to promote practical, cost-effective options that are available for smaller or rural supplies, and to develop more guidance and how-to information and support to ensure they are managing their treatment systems well,’ he says.
From Havelock North
The Authority came into existence in November 2021 with the vision of ‘Safe water every day for everyone’. The 2016 Havelock North drinking water contamination event had demonstrated the need for a dedicated water services regulator that would ensure safety requirements are met.
This marked a turning point in how Aotearoa New Zealand manages its drinking water.
The primary focus of the Authority’s early years was on improving drinking water safety for supplies owned or operated by or for local or central government. These supplies provide drinking water to most New Zealanders and, consequently, pose the highest risk if something goes wrong.
Taylor says that while safe drinking water is fundamental to daily life, it doesn’t happen by accident.
‘It requires careful planning, active management and robust infrastructure,’ he says. ‘Drinking water suppliers must use a range of processes, procedures, and tools to protect and treat water to make sure it’s safe, and it’s kept safe as it travels to the people who drink it.
‘A key component is taking a multi-barrier approach to manage risks, as required under the Water Services Act 2021. A multi-barrier approach requires suppliers to provide source water protection, remove particles, disinfect and protect water in their network.
‘The importance of this approach was highlighted by the 2023 cryptosporidium outbreak in Queenstown, where a lack of a Protozoa barrier contributed to more than 70 people falling ill. That outbreak became a stark reminder of the consequences when critical treatment barriers are missing,’ he adds.
Treatment barriers include Protozoa barriers like ultraviolet (UV) treatment and filtration; bacterial barriers like chlorination, UV, and some filters; and residual disinfection (where chlorine is added to keep water disinfected while it travels through pipes to homes).
No single barrier is effective against all types of contamination or risks. Having multiple barriers in place means that if one fails, others are there as backups to help prevent, or reduce, the chance of public health being impacted.
Targeted action to install barriers
Taylor says that council suppliers have made significant progress towards getting cost-effective treatment barriers in place and improving drinking water safety over the past two years.
‘In late 2023, we advised council drinking water suppliers whose supplies lacked Protozoa, bacterial, and/or residual disinfection treatment barriers of our expectation that they create a plan and install these barriers by the end of 2025. We expect the majority of council supplies to have these barriers in place by the end of 2025.
‘Where barriers remain absent, suppliers are required to take additional measures, typically a boil water advisory, to ensure risks are managed and consumers are safe. Communication of risks to communities is key. They deserve to know if their water could make them sick,’ he says.
Safe water for everyone
In June 2025, the Authority published its ‘Drinking Water Regulation Report 2024’, based on supplier data about the safety and sufficiency of the water they supply. The report shines a light on the current mixed state of drinking water in New Zealand.
Taylor clarifies that while good progress has been made and most people’s drinking water is safe, some people in New Zealand still face an unacceptable risk of illness from their drinking water.
‘There are still high numbers of E. coli exceedances in many supplies around the country, particularly in rural supplies. Monitoring for microbiological and chemical contaminants is improving, but is still insufficient. There are gaps in source water risk management plans.
‘Noncompliance has been longstanding for many drinking water supplies. Financial investment is needed to resolve this. Many suppliers are small and don’t have the resources of larger council suppliers. There are many cases where supplies have not been monitored for many years.
‘As a regulator, we need to provide a pragmatic and proportionate response while ensuring safe water is supplied to communities. Our goal is for all suppliers – from small community suppliers to large councils – to have the required barriers or an Acceptable Solution in place by 2028,’ he says.
Acceptable Solutions are a straightforward option for smaller drinking water suppliers to treat their drinking water. They allow for water to be treated at the endpoint of a supply – for example, at each house or building – without the need for residual disinfection. These may be of particular interest for rural and community supplies, which provide drinking water to an estimated 17 per cent of people in New Zealand.
A pathway to compliance
In July this year, the Authority published its updated Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement Strategy 2025–28 (CME Strategy).
This is a clear action plan for how drinking water safety will be regulated over the next three years and outlines the actions suppliers need to take to meet their obligations, while also recognising the real-world challenges that they face.
‘The CME Strategy sets out what we expect drinking water suppliers to do over the next three years to address the most significant risks to public health from the drinking water they supply. It focuses on suppliers improving their systems, practices and infrastructure,’ says Taylor.
‘We have set out detailed expectations for three priority groups of suppliers – councils, central government and commercial suppliers, and community suppliers – to meet each year from now until 2028.
‘We are working with suppliers to find the most cost‑effective solutions that are right for their supply. For each, the approach is proportionate to the scale and complexity of their networks. It prioritises action to address the biggest health risks, with milestones for monitoring, treatment and infrastructure improvements.
‘There is a lot to do between now and 2028, but we have a clear view of where we are now and a clear pathway forward.’