Registering your supply
How to register your drinking water supply and maintain your registration
Up until November 2021, the Ministry of Health maintained a register of drinking water suppliers under the Health Act 1956. Drinking water supplies previously on that register were migrated into our online self-service portal and register, Hinekōrako, when the Water Services Act 2021 commenced.
Log in to Hinekōrakooutbound
New drinking water supplies
The owner(s) of a new drinking water must do the following before starting to operate the supply:
- Ensure the drinking water supply is registered.
- Prepare and implement a drinking water safety plan that complies with legislative requirements and lodge a copy of the plan with the Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowai, or adopt an applicable Acceptable Solution.
The Act will apply in full to new drinking water supplies from the outset. Drinking water suppliers, including supply owners and operators, will need to comply with all applicable duties and requirements accordingly. In some circumstances, exemptions may be available from some or all of the Act’s requirements.
You can register now by filling in this form application to register a water supply.
Once we receive and review your completed form, we may be in touch to request more information.
Domestic self-supplies (supply of drinking water to a single, stand-alone domestic dwelling) and shared domestic supplies (supply of drinking water exclusively to 25 or fewer people who live in domestic dwellings on the land that receives the water) are not drinking water supplies and do not need to be registered under the Act. Learn more on the domestic self-supply or shared domestic supply page.
Drinking water supplies that serve 25 or fewer people for non-residential purposes – such as commercial, industrial, or community uses – must still register and meet the other requirements of the Act, although they are not required to have a drinking water safety plan. Learn more on the very small community supply page.
Unregistered supplies
If you are a drinking water supplier that was supplying water prior to 15 November 2021 but was not registered with the Ministry of Health, you need to register with us by November 2028.
Water carriers
If you transport drinking water, please see the water carrier page for information on how and when you need to register.
Temporary drinking water supply for an event
If you’re planning an event that requires a temporary drinking water supply, you can either use another registered drinking water supplier, provide bottled water, or fill out the Temporary Drinking Water Supplies formoutbound to register your own temporary drinking water supply for your event.
Find out more about your responsibilities if you intend to supply drinking water to people attending a planned event on the temporary supply for planned event page.
Who is responsible for registration?
The drinking water supply owner (this can be an organisation or an individual) is responsible for ensuring the drinking water supply is registered. The owner(s) are those people with effective control of the drinking water supply. Some supplies will have one clear owner and other supplies may have multiple owners.
The owner can delegate the registration process to an agent or someone else who may be the supply operator. However, the owner remains responsible for the accuracy of what is in the application and maintaining up-to-date registration details.
Guidance for registering your water supply in Hinekōrako
We have developed guidance to help you register a drinking water supply in Hinekōrako – the online self-service portal. Some supplies will be more complex than others. You only need to read the sections that apply to you and your supply.
In addition to this guidance, there are a number of step-by-step guides and online prompts in Hinekōrako to help you complete your registration online.
Overview of registration process
These are the stages of the registration process:
- Once your registration application has been processed, you will receive an invitation to log into Hinekōrako, our online self-service portal.
- You will need to add further information to your supply details and submit it for registration.
- We will send you a confirmation email when your registration is approved. This will advise of the registration renewal date for your water supply and outline your key responsibilities.
- Once the registration process is completed, details are included on the Public Register of Drinking Water Supplies. Requests can be submitted to withhold information from the Public Register under certain circumstances.
Once your water supply is registered:
- You need to renew your registration every 5 years for each water supply (except for planned temporary water supply for events) and confirm all your details and your drinking water safety plan (where required) are current.
- You need to notify us immediately by updating the relevant registration record if any information changes.