72,000 NZers drinking faecally contaminated water

The Annual Report on Drinking-Water in New Zealand 2009/10 shows that 72,000 New Zealanders are drinking faecally contaminated water, said the Green Party today.

“The Ministry of Health report released today shows that many New Zealander’s right to clean, safe drinking water is being denied,” said Green Party Co-leader Russel Norman.

The report gives statistics about microbiological and protozoal compliance of registered drinking water supplies and shows that drinking water non-compliance is generally located in towns with populations of less than 5,000 people.

“Some communities have faeces in their drinking water and yet the Government has limited their ability to clean up their water sources," said Dr Norman.

Dr Norman was referring to the Government’s sixteen month freeze on the Capital Assistance Programme, and subsequent cuts. The Capital Assistance Programme aims to support small communities of under 5,000 people to improve drinking water quality, but the programme was put on hold in September 2009 for a governmental review. The programme was reinstated at the end of 2010, but with stricter eligibility criteria for communities and an $18 million budget cut.

"At a time when nearly half of our lakes and most of our lowland rivers are classed as polluted, and these are the source of drinking water for many communities, the Government needs to be investing more money into helping communities supply clean, safe drinking water, not less,” said Dr Norman.

When questioned recently whether it was acceptable to Government if communities are in fact drinking water that has faecal contamination, Minister of Health Tony Ryall replied that it was the responsibility of the local authorities to manage this.

Information obtained by the Green Party under the Official Information Act shows that some District Health Boards (DHBs) have made progress in 2010 with their efforts to help communities improve drinking water, but thirty percent of DHBs said that the freeze on funding had been a limiting factor for some communities to improve their drinking water and monitoring regimes.

“It’s time for the Government to accept that it can and should help all rural New Zealanders clean up their drinking water,” Dr Norman said.

“I hope this report spurs the Government into reversing their decision to cut the Capital Assistance Programme, which has left many communities drinking faecally contaminated water.”

References:

Annual Review on Drinking-Water in New Zealand: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/annual-review-drinking-water-quality0910