Questions and answers: Acceptable Solution changes

Every day, drinking water suppliers play a vital role supporting the health and wellbeing of people across New Zealand by providing them with safe, reliable drinking water. 

To help, we provide compliance pathways that suppliers can follow to meet their responsibilities. In general, the simpler (or lower risk) the supply, the simpler the requirements. 

An Acceptable Solution is currently one possible compliance pathway for some:  

• rural supplies that provide water for farm use (e.g. irrigation, stock) as well as for people to drink 
• drinking water supplies that serve 500 people or fewer.  

Acceptable Solutions enable water to be treated at or near any buildings where people will drink it. This could include using an ‘end-point’ treatment system, which uses filters and ultraviolet (UV) light to disinfect the water.

For some suppliers, following the requirements of an Acceptable Solution may be a more straightforward and cost-effective way to meet their responsibilities than completing a drinking water safety plan and following the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules. 

Some suppliers told us that it could be: 

• hard to figure out if an Acceptable Solution (or another approach, like following the Rules) is right for their supplies and community 
• challenging to determine which Acceptable Solution is right for a supply  
• difficult to understand what suppliers need to do to meet Acceptable Solution requirements. 

So, we proposed changes so that more suppliers could use an Acceptable Solution. We aimed to:

·       make it easier for suppliers to figure out if an Acceptable Solution is right for their supply and community

·       make what suppliers need to do to meet requirements clearer

·       save suppliers and their communities, time, effort and cost, while providing good quality water to the people who drink it every day. 

Read the summary of feedback provided during the consultation

Read all submissions provided during the consultationoutbound

The three updated Acceptable Solutions are for different types of supplies.

1. Mixed-use rural supplies (at least 50% of water supplied is for farm use (e.g. irrigation, stock) and up to 50% is provided for people to drink). 
2. Small to medium-sized network supplies. 
3. Self-supplied buildings. 

Each Acceptable Solution is a legal document that sets requirements. These are supported by a range of practical information to help people managing these supplies understand and meet requirements. We’ll keep adding to and improving this supporting information over time.

The previous, first set of Acceptable Solutions covered a mix of supply types (mixed-use rural) and source water types (spring/bore; roof water), so more than one Acceptable Solution could apply for a single supply.  

Find out more about the updated Acceptable Solutions

To enable more suppliers to use Acceptable Solutions to provide safe drinking water to their community, the following key changes have been made.

Shift to supply types

Updated Acceptable Solutions are for three common types of smaller drinking water supplies. The change will make it easier for suppliers to figure out whether an Acceptable Solution is right for their supply, and community. 

Previous Acceptable Solutions covered a mix of supply and source water types, so more than one could apply for a supply. 

Some supplies have the option to use lower-cost treatment systems

Some supplies now have the option to use lower-cost (non-validated) end-point treatment systems. 

This includes households and some very small workplaces. Specifically, connections that:

·       serve 25 or fewer people

·       do not provide water to public buildings (e.g. cafes) or buildings where the community gathers together (e.g. schools, marae).

Some non-validated treatment systems can cost thousands of dollars less than validated ones that meet international standards, while providing safe drinking water. So, this could provide a significant cost savings when getting treatment in place.

Any non-validated EPT system used as part of an Acceptable Solution needs to meet safety requirements to help ensure people have safe water to drink.

For more information, read the question on this page titled: What’s the difference between a validated and non-validated EPT device?

Enabling more supplies that use surface water to follow an Acceptable Solution

Updated Acceptable Solutions are for a different types of supply and all of these can use surface water (e.g. rivers, streams, creeks and lakes) as their source water.

In the past, only mixed-use rural supplies could use surface water as a source and follow an Acceptable Solution as the other Acceptable Solutions were for types of source water (i.e. rainwater, bore and spring water).

Surface water used as part of a drinking water supply needs to be suitable to treat. For example, it can’t be too cloudy (turbid) as this can impact how well UV treatment works. If a supply’s source water is not suitable for end-point treatment, the supplier is still able to meet their responsibility to provide safe drinking water by following the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules and creating a drinking water safety plan.

More buildings can use a single treatment system

The new Acceptable Solution for self-supplied buildings (e.g. schools, marae) enables a single treatment system to be used to treat water provided to up to 10 buildings. (For other Acceptable Solutions, one EPT system can treat water for up to three buildings.) 

This change was made to align with requirements for similar supplies that follow the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules.

So, this new Self-supplied Buildings Acceptable Solution provides a second compliance option for these supplies to choose from.

Requirements are clearer as they have been separated from supporting how-to information

Some suppliers told us that it was confusing to have the requirements and guidance in the same Acceptable Solutions document.

So, the legal requirements under each Acceptable Solution have been separated from supporting information.

We’ll provide more guidance over the coming months and keep improving it into the future.

• More supplies can use an Acceptable Solution to provide safe water to their communities.
• Some suppliers now have the option to use lower-cost treatment systems, saving thousands of dollars while providing drinking water that meets safety requirements.
• It’s easier for suppliers to figure out which Acceptable Solution they can use for a supply.
• Acceptable Solutions are easier to understand and follow – we’ll provide more guidance over the coming months and keep improving it into the future.

These changes aren’t the only way we’ve responded to supplier feedback. In early 2025, we published a policy statement and flow chart to help clarify supplier responsibilities when using end-point treatment systems under an Acceptable Solution. 

First step is finding out the compliance options for your supply.

A new online tool on our website can help you figure out what type of supply you have, whether an Acceptable Solution can be used for it and more.

Drinking water suppliers may have options to meet their responsibility to provide the communities they serve with safe drinking water.   

One possible option may be to follow an Acceptable Solution, which enables suppliers to treat water near the buildings where people will drink it.  

Another option is completing a drinking water safety plan and following the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules (the Rules). 

Last year, we consulted on and updated the Rules for drinking water supplies that serve 500 people or fewer. These refreshed Rules came into effect on 1 January 2025. 

As part of this change, we have created guidance for very small communities, small supplies and medium supplies to help these suppliers understand what the changes mean for them.   

Online tool to help you find out your supply type and related compliance options

Lower-cost non-validated end-point treatment (EPT) systems can be used for connections that serve 25 or fewer people, as long as they don’t provide water to:

• public buildings (e.g. cafes)
• buildings where the community gathers together (e.g. schools marae).

A validated treatment system (one that meets international standards) must be to manage public health risks when providing water to these public or community buildings.

Any non-validated EPT system used as part of an Acceptable Solution needs to meet safety requirements to help ensure people have safe water to drink.

No, all suppliers will need to transition to one of the three updated Acceptable Solutions by 4 September 2026. This gives suppliers a year to decide and meet requirements.

However, as the three updated Acceptable Solutions are for specific types of supplies, it should be easy to figure out which one works for you. Additionally, if a supply was meeting the requirements of a previous Acceptable Solution, moving to a new one should be straightforward.

Once you decide, let us know by updating your supply information in Hinekōrako.

For supplies that are meeting the requirements of a previous Acceptable Solution, moving to a new one should be straightforward.

Suppliers will have until 4 September 2026 to update Hinekōrako to confirm with us what updated Acceptable Solution they have moved to. As the three Acceptable Solutions published today are for specific types of supplies, it should be easy to figure out which one works best for you.

We wanted to make the improved Acceptable Solutions available for suppliers to consider as soon possible.

It’ll take us a little bit more time to update the Hinekōrako online portal so that suppliers can officially move to a new Acceptable Solution. We plan to have Hinekōrako updated by early October 2025 to enable suppliers to make this change.

Do suppliers following a Mixed-use Rural Acceptable Solution need to update Hinekōrako?

Yes, if you follow the Mixed-use Rural Acceptable Solution now, you will still need to update Hinekōrako to confirm that you understand the requirements of the latest Mixed-use Rural Acceptable Solution and are following all requirements.

We’ve just launched a new online tool that can help suppliers figure out their supply type.

Once you access it, it’ll ask you a series of questions to determine what type of supply you have, whether an Acceptable Solution can be used to meet your supplier responsibilities and more.

We wanted to make the improved updated Acceptable Solutions available for suppliers as soon possible.

It’ll take us a little bit more time to update the Hinekōrako online portal so that suppliers can officially adopt a new Acceptable Solution. We plan to have Hinekōrako updated by early October to enable suppliers to make this change.

In the meantime, suppliers can take action to make sure they’re meeting the requirements of the updated Acceptable Solution that best fits their supply.

To meet their legal responsibilities, suppliers must meet all requirements of an Acceptable Solution from the time they start following one.

As water services regulator, we’re committed to taking a pragmatic, risk-based approach.

While working to improve Acceptable Solutions, we identified a technical matter that could create an unnecessary barrier to some supplies adopting a Mixed-use rural or Small to medium networked supply Acceptable Solution, so are taking steps to proactively resolve this.

The situation

Suppliers that choose to follow an Acceptable Solution must meet all related requirements to be compliant. One of these is the requirement to have end-point treatment in place for buildings connected to your supply. 

During our recent consultation on proposed changes to Acceptable Solutions, we identified a situation where some small (serving 500 people or fewer) and rural suppliers provide water to ‘sub-supplies’ that centrally treat the water before providing it on for people to drink.

In the past, for a supplier in this situation, adopting an Acceptable Solution meant they could not provide water to another drinking water supply without installing end-point treatment systems for that sub-supply. In situations where the community is already being provided with centrally treated drinking water through one of these ‘sub-supplies’ – it just isn’t sensible to require end-point treatment systems to be installed as well.

To fix this, we have updated the Mixed-use rural and Small to medium network Acceptable Solutions to enable suppliers who supply water to another drinking water supply to keep using the Acceptable Solution if they contact us to seek an exemption.  

For eligible suppliers, this would exempt them from their responsibility to treat water using end-point treatment provided to a ‘sub -supply’. They would still be required to implement end-point treatment for buildings that are not part of the ‘sub-supply’.

Even when exempted from end-point treatment requirements for these ‘sub-supplies’, suppliers following an Acceptable Solution would still need to meet all Acceptable Solution requirements unrelated to end-point treatment (e.g. source water protection, monitoring, providing information, backflow prevention, emergency planning and record-keeping).  

What would this exemption mean for the ‘sub-supply’?

All of the legal responsibilities of a supplier would apply, except those relating to source water.

The sub-supplier can choose their own compliance pathway, which could be to follow the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules or an Acceptable Solution.

In some instances, these ‘sub-supplies’ may already be registered with us. If they aren’t yet registered and have been operating as a supply since before November 2021, they would be required to:

• register their supply with us by November 2028
• meet all compliance requirements by November 2030.

Benefits of this pragmatic approach

• Provides more flexibility and certainty for mixed-use rural and small to medium networked supplies – enabling suppliers to adopt an Acceptable Solution with confidence if they consider this to be the best compliance option for their supply and community.
• Better reflects the realities and diversity of existing, long-standing drinking water arrangements in smaller and rural communities.
• Saves suppliers time and cost as they don’t need to install unnecessary treatment where drinking water is already centrally treated.

Next steps for supplies in the situation above

We plan to contact suppliers we know are in this situation to understand whether they are interested in following an Acceptable Solution and, if so, discuss a possible proactive exemption as outlined above.

If you are in the situation above, please contact us to talk about a possible exemption at: exemption@taumataarowai.govt.nz

Thanks to everyone who invested the time to provide feedback during the consultation on proposed changes to Acceptable Solutions. Your feedback informed the final Acceptable Solutions.

If you’re interested in seeing the feedback we received during the consultation, you are welcome to read:

• a summary of submission feedback
• all submissions we received. outbound