Tap Into The Technical Assistance Programme

Small scale suppliers of drinking water will be interested in the government’s TAP (Technical Assistance Programme) designed to help operations involving fewer than 5000 people.

TAP is part of the Ministry of Health administered Drinking-water Assistance Programme, a $136.9 million fund to help to improve drinking-water supplies in New Zealand communities.

The TAP programme is a facilitation mechanism to provide information on how best to operate a small supply and how to manage the risks associated with providing drinking water to a community.

It will also provide information on options for upgrading or improving supplies and will help small drinking-water suppliers to make the most effective use of the equipment they already have.

The programme will focus on the development of public health risk management plans and these will help water suppliers to identify any improvements required to ensure the safety of the drinking water.

It will also assist water suppliers with planning the sustainability of their supplies.

Schools and marae are examples of water suppliers that could fall into the category for TAP assistance.

In summary TAP will:


Register participating drinking-water supplies in each district
Arrange TAP groups of drinking-water suppliers in each district
Help suppliers to optimise their performance and distribution
Help with developing public health risk management plans
Help suppliers to develop sustainability plans for their supplies
Identify what equipment and capital investment would be required for the supply to provide safe drinking-water.