The Government drinking water regulator, Taumata Arowai, has declined Waimakariri District Council’s application to be exempt from chlorinating its drinking water.
Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon says the council pushed strongly for water in Waimakariri to remain unchlorinated.
However, it has now has to chlorinate all public water supplies, by law.
‘‘We know the community preference, and will continue to work with Taumata Arowai to determine a path forward where our drinking water can be chlorine-free.
‘‘However, this is expected to take a significant amount of investment due to new high standards,’’ Mr Gordon says.
He stressed Waimakariri is fortunate to have pure and safe groundwater, and the council had history of providing safe drinking water and complying with drinking water standards.
‘‘The safety of our water has not changed.
‘‘It is a change in law, and higher standards and regulations, that requires the council to chlorinate public water.’’
Mr Gordon says over the last 20 years the council has invested over $100m in water infrastructure, which is ‘‘high quality’’, and has a planned programme to ensure it stays this way. ‘‘We have a 100 year strategy to fund these assets and a further $41 million is allocated in the Long Term Plan to support drinking water safety upgrades (such as UV treatment),’’ Mr Gordon says.
The council made submissions on the new drinking water standards at the Parliamentary Select Committee level, and pushed Taumata Arowai to allow its supplies to remain chlorine-free while exemptions were being considered.
It means the Cust, Woodend-Pegasus and Kaiapoi supplies will remain chlorinated.
A start will be made in the next few weeks on chlorinating the Rangiora, Waikuku Beach and the Oxford urban supplies.
‘‘Going forward all supplies will be chlorinated, unless, and until, an exemption application is granted by Taumata Arowai, as required by law,’’ says Mr Gordon.
He says when the draft decline for the Cust supply was received the council challenged the decision, and met with Taumata Arowai’s new chief executive to again push Waimakariri’s preference for unchlorinated water.
‘‘Taumata Arowai has now released its final decision for Cust, and informed the council we must now chlorinate all water supplies.’’
Waimakariri is the only remaining Canterbury council operating unchlorinated water supplies.
Most public drinking water supplies in New Zealand are chlorinated.
‘‘We will keep the community informed.
‘‘Once we have further information we will consult further with the options we have.’’
Mr Gordon says letters will be written to every resident outlining why chlorination is now necessary, and steps that can be taken to lessen any problems users might encounter.
Taumata Arowai took over water regulation from the Ministry of Health in November 2021.
Along with the new regulator, new higher drinking water standards came into effect that required public drinking water supplies to have a Drinking Water Safety Plan (DWSP) in place as well as residual disinfectant, such as chlorine - unless awarded an exemption.
Mr Gordon says the council has always been in favour of the new regulator, despite its opposition to the present Government’s Three Waters restructuring policy, and welcomed the new regulations.
‘‘Having secure and safe water is important for the health of our community and we want to meet the challenge of new regulations.
‘‘A significant cause of the requirement to introduce chlorine is due to the new regulations raising the bar for water safety, and there needing to be numerous barriers to protect public health from water borne illnesses.
‘‘We believe our source water is some of the best in the country, and will continue to invest in our water infrastructure to pursue a pathway to chlorine-free water.
‘We will keep the community informed about how we are progressing.’’
Dates for chlorination treatment to be introduced:
- Cust: Water has been chlorinated since November 2020 - no immediate changes
- Woodend-Pegasus: Pegasus has been chlorinated since it was first established. Woodend has been temporarily chlorinated from February 2023 due to low levels of organic material being detected - no further changes;
- Kaiapoi: Temporarily chlorinated from February 2023 due to low levels of organic material being detected. We are now legally required to continue to use chlorine - no further changes;
- Rangiora: Chlorine to be introduced from November 14.
- Waikuku Beach: Chlorine to be introduced from November 7;
- Oxford Urban: Chlorine to be introduced from October 31;
- Restricted supplies: Oxford Rural No 1, and Oxford Rural No 2, West Eyreton, Poytzs, Summerhill, Ohoka, Fernside, Garrymere - All of these restricted rural supplies will still be chlorinated.
It will not be possible to obtain exemptions for these supplies particularly due to the onsite holding tanks.
