General questions and answers on the national environmental standard for sources of human drinking water
Why do we need to protect our drinking water sources?
What is the purpose of the National Environmental Standard for Sources of Human Drinking Water?
What is a national environmental standard?
What is a human drinking water source?
How will the standard fit in with the work of the Ministry of Health?
How will I know what I need to do to comply with the standard?
Why do we need to protect our drinking water sources?
Overseas, major disease outbreaks have occurred when bugs have entered water supplies and treatment has malfunctioned or been insufficient, resulting in those bugs passing through into the drinking water. To reduce these risks, water managers try to put as many barriers as possible between source water (such as rivers and groundwater) and consumers. Barriers include protecting drinking water sources, treating drinking water and maintaining a safe distribution system to people’s homes.
The national environmental standard focuses on reducing risks to human drinking water sources, which is the first step in protecting our drinking water.
Health legislation applies after the water has been taken from the natural environment (e.g. a river) and enters a treatment or distribution system. It focuses on ensuring effective processes and risk management in the next stages of treatment and delivery of safe drinking water to consumers.
The Ministry of Health website has information on health legislation for drinking water, and public health information about drinking water.
What is the purpose of the National Environmental Standard for Sources of Human Drinking Water?
The national environmental standard aims to reduce the risk of contaminating human drinking water sources (e.g. rivers and groundwater). It does this in several ways.
The first is by requiring that councils do not grant discharges and water permits which would allow drinking water sources to be polluted to the extent where the existing treatment method cannot then make the water safe to drink.
The second component is to not allow permitted activities in regional plans that will result in a similar deterioration in the quality of drinking water sources. The standard also contains provisions for protecting drinking water supplies in the event of accidents.
What is a national environmental standard?
National environmental standards are regulations made under sections 43 to 44 of the Resource Management Act (RMA) 1991. Standards can be numerical limits, narrative statements, or methodologies that are in a legally enforceable form. They may include standards relating to:
- Noise
- Contaminants
- Water quality, level or flow
- Air quality
- Soil quality in relation to the discharge of contaminants
- Prescribing the methods of implementing such standards.
The new national environmental standard for sources of human drinking water is a narrative or qualitative statement.
What is a human drinking water source?
For the purpose of this national environmental standard, a human drinking water source is a natural water body (e.g. lake, river or groundwater) used to supply a community with drinking water. The standard applies to source water before it is treated.
The standard applies only to sources used to supply human drinking water (i.e. not sources supplying stock or other animals).
How will the national environmental standard fit in with the work of the Ministry of Health?
There are several stages involved in delivering healthy water to consumers. The national environmental standard focuses on the first stage: reducing risks to the sources of drinking water in the environment. This is an area that comes under the control of the Resource Management Act (RMA). Health legislation applies once the water has been extracted from its source (e.g. a river or groundwater) and enters a treatment or distribution system.
The national environmental standard will complement new Ministry of Health legislation for improving drinking water supply and delivery, and ensure a comprehensive approach to managing drinking water from source to tap.
How will I know what I need to do to comply with the standard?
The Ministry for the Environment will be producing material to assist councils and consent applicants understand what the standard requires.
The Ministry for the Environment will also run workshops around the country in 2008 to help councils, industry, public health officials and drinking water suppliers understand how the national environmental standard works and what they will need to do to put it into practice.
Last updated: 6 January 2009
