Exemptions | The Water Services Authority

Why does the Act allow for exemptions?

The main purpose of the Water Services Act  (the Act) is to ensure that drinking water suppliers provide safe drinking water to consumers. This is achieved in a number of ways including (but not limited to) requiring drinking water suppliers to ensure that drinking water complies with Drinking Water Standards, Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules and/or Acceptable Solutionsoutbound. These compliance pathways have been designed to be achievable for most suppliers and water supplies.

The Act also recognises that for some suppliers it may be disproportionate to require compliance with some legislative requirements and duties due to the scale, complexity and risk profile of their water supply.  In such cases, we may be able to exempt suppliers from certain requirements of the Act if they are still able to ensure safe drinking water is provided to consumers.

The purpose of exemptions, as set out in the Act, is to give suppliers flexibility where compliance is impracticable, inefficient, unduly costly or unduly burdensome. It is also to allow for minor or technical exemptions.

What is the Authority’s approach to exemptions?

Exemptions exclude suppliers from statutory requirements that ordinarily apply to them. The power to exempt drinking water suppliers from statutory requirements must be exercised carefully, particularly when considering exemptions for matters that are more than minor or technical.

We take the approach that exemptions should be used sparingly and to solve exceptional problems or respond to exceptional circumstances, where other options have been discounted, rather than as a business-as-usual tool.

When assessing and making decisions on exemption applications, we are guided by our objectives and operating principles as set out in ss 10 and 18 of the Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowai Act 2021 and our Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement Strategy outbound.

What are some of the limitations to exemptions?

There are a limited number of duties and related requirements which suppliers may be exempt from; these are outlined in the next section. The two key requirements which must be met to grant an exemption are:

consumers receive safe drinking water (i.e. the main purpose of the Act)
the purpose of exemptions as outlined above.

Some examples of where an exemption cannot be granted for include:

Exemption from a particular compliance rule
Exemption from the requirement to use an accredited laboratory
Exemption from registration and associated requirements.

We are also aware of some communities' preferences to be exempt from using chlorination because of concerns with taste or odour. We will not grant exemptions for chlorination on this basis as it is not consistent with the purpose of exemptions that is set out in the Act. See our learning hub for more information on chlorination and how taste and odour issues with chlorine can be easily resolved.

The Act also allows for conditions to be attached to an exemption to ensure drinking water is still able to be supplied in a way that keeps consumers safe and provides a mechanism to monitor suppliers with exemptions.

The types of exemptions that drinking water suppliers can apply for are: 

General exemptions

General exemptions allow drinking water suppliers to be exempt from complying with one or more of the duties below.

to supply safe drinking water
to comply with drinking water standards
to take reasonable steps to provide aesthetically acceptable drinking water
to provide a sufficient quantity of drinking water to consumers at each point of supply
to protect against the risk of backflow
requirements relating to end-point treatment
to have a drinking water safety plan
to keep records
to provide information to consumers and have a consumer complaints process.

In some situations, it may be unreasonable or impracticable to comply with the above duties, in which case an exemption can be granted. An exemption can only be granted if it is consistent with the main purpose of the Act, which is to ensure that drinking water suppliers provide safe drinking water to consumers.

An example of where a general exemption might be granted is where a supplier provides drinking water at a remote location with no access to electricity, e.g. a remote campground or hut. The duties to provide safe drinking water could be discharged by granting an exemption with a condition that signage on the hut indicates water must be boiled before drinking. This would ensure consumers know what they need to do to access safe water at that site.

Another example of where a general exemption might be granted is where a supplier wants to use end-point treatment for part of the supply through an acceptable solution but a downstream supply is connected to the distribution system which has its own centralised treatment. This situation is not technically allowed by the legislation because the supplier is not permitted to provide water that is not safe to drink to the downstream supplier. The supplier may however be granted a general exemption to supply unsafe water to the downstream supplier who takes responsibility for treating the water they receive.

We encourage suppliers to work through the specifics of their situation with our Water Service Officers before applying for a general exemption.

Residual disinfection exemptions

A residual disinfection exemption exempts drinking water suppliers from the default requirement to use residual disinfection (e.g. chlorine) in their reticulated supply, or in any part of their supply that includes reticulation (see s31(1)(j)outbound). Note that any supplies with a population of 25 or less people and any supplies using acceptable solutions do not require a drinking water safety plan and therefore do not need to use residual disinfection.

Residual disinfection involves a supplier ensuring a low level of disinfectant is present in drinking water as it travels from the treatment plant through reservoirs, pump stations, and underground pipes to consumers taps. Chlorine is the most common form of residual disinfectant for drinking water.

A residual disinfectant helps suppliers maintain the safety of drinking water as it transits the pipe network. Levels of disinfectant are also easily measured and testing residual disinfectant is commonly used as a tool to monitor drinking water in the distribution system for contamination events which can occur after treatment. This can include incidents like:

backflow events where contaminated water is siphoned from a property into the distribution system
ingress of contamination through leaky pipes during low pressure events
animals or birds contaminating reservoirs
other situations where contamination can occur.

Where residual disinfectant is detected, this provides some additional assurance that drinking water is free from contamination and is safe to drink.

A residual disinfection exemption may apply to all or a part of a supply and can be granted with conditions. This type of exemption can only be granted if:

the exemption is consistent with the main purpose of the Act
all other legislative requirements will be complied with, including the duty to provide safe drinking water
the exemption is consistent with the purpose of exemptions (s 58A) in the Act which means compliance with the relevant requirement is impracticable, inefficient, unduly costly, or unduly burdensome or the exemption is minor or technical.

If you are a registered supplier considering applying for a residual disinfection exemption, we encourage you to first talk with our Water Service Officers to discuss the specifics of your situation.

Class exemptions

General or residual disinfection exemptions can be for individual drinking water suppliers or for a class of drinking water supplier. Any supplier who comes within the description of the class can choose to rely on the published exemption, without having to make a new exemption application specifically for their supply. Before a class exemption is granted, we must consult with the public.

How do I apply for an exemption?

Before applying for an exemption, we encourage you to contact your regional representative for the Authority first for a pre-application meeting. In that meeting, we can discuss whether applying for an exemption could be a suitable alternative to other compliance options. This ensures that the time and resources of both the supplier and the Authority are used effectively and efficiently.

You can apply for an exemption by logging into Hinekōrako, the self-service portal. You can also use this form to apply for an exemption.  

What do I need to provide with my application?

We consider applications for exemptions based on the scale, complexity and risk profile of a supplier or supply, as well as the costs of different options to comply. You must explain to the Authority how your exemption will be consistent with the main purpose of the Act, which is to ensure that drinking water suppliers provide safe drinking water to consumers. 

You will need to provide reasons and supporting evidence as to why you are seeking an exemption, where either: 

compliance with the relevant requirement is impracticable, inefficient, unduly costly, or unduly burdensome, taking into account the nature of your supply or and your situation as a supplier, or 
the exemption is minor or technical.

You also need to tell us how you would manage risks affecting your drinking water supply if an exemption was granted. Please think about what measures you could propose to ensure that you provide safe drinking water and submit this along with your application.

Exemptions can be issued for a maximum of up to 15 years and may include additional measures to ensure safety of consumers.

Is any other information needed if my application is for a general exemption?

When applying for a general exemption, you’ll need to specify the requirement(s) that you want to be exempt from. You’ll need to tailor your application to demonstrate how drinking water from your supply or supplies will be made safe for consumers.

See the general exemption section above for the list of requirements which may be exempted and examples.

Is any other information needed if my application is for a residual disinfection exemption?

You must provide with your application, a draft drinking water safety plan or other documents which describe how you intend to operate your supply safely without using residual disinfection.

As part of our assessment of your application, we may refer residual disinfection exemption applications to a consultant on our Drinking Water Technical Panel of experts who can provide specialist advice to the Authority.  

For each application we will consider the following attributes and any other information we deem necessary.

Attribute	Consideration
Cross-connection control and backflow prevention	Demonstration of an effective cross-connection control and backflow prevention programme
Pressure management	Demonstration of comprehensive understanding of network pressures and best practice for pressure management
Hygienic practices	Demonstration that hygiene best practices for planned and unplanned repairs are always used
Water storage	Demonstration of best practice for operation, inspection, and maintenance of water storage
System condition	Demonstration of regular assessment of system condition and that overall system is sound
Sanitary sewers	Demonstration of sufficient separation of sanitary and water networks
Seismic design	Demonstration of best practice in system design for seismic resiliency
Operational staff	Demonstration of staffing level adequacy, technical competency, awareness of risk, involvement in quality management and continuous improvement, and continual training
Network cleaning	Demonstration of best practice in regular and effective network cleaning programme
Water loss	Demonstration of best practice in leak detection and loss control programme and minimal non-revenue water
Online monitoring	Demonstration of effective online monitoring capability for key water quality parameters in the network at key locations
Continuous improvement	Demonstration of best practice in asset management and capital improvements, including repair, rehabilitation, and replacement planning and activities
Electrical power	Demonstration of best practice for reliability of electrical power system, including emergency backup and standby capabilities
Emergency chlorination	Demonstration of provision of emergency chlorination capability for network
Incident and emergency response	Demonstration of effective emergency response capabilities, including communication, contingency supply, response protocols, regular training exercises
Public communications	Demonstration of effective public communications strategy and capability
Customer complaints	Demonstration of effective capability to receive and rapidly respond to customer complaints
Organisational awareness and commitment	Demonstration of organisational awareness of system risks and commitment to water quality protection from all levels of personnel

Fees and charges

We recover costs incurred in assessing exemptions applications through specific fees and charges. Costs cover actual time spent by our team assessing and managing your application as well as any costs associated with external, independent advice we might seek to support our decision-making.

Published exemptions granted

When a general or residual disinfection exemption (for either an individual drinking water supplier or a class of supplier) is granted, we will publish the exemption.

The Public Register of Drinking Water Suppliesoutbound also includes information on any exemptions that are granted for a supply.

The following is the public list of exemptions applications that have been granted:

General exemptions

Supplier	Supply Name + ID	Exemption	Expiry Date	Final Decision Paper
Torrent Bay Township Committee	Torrent Bay Township TOR002	Exemption No. 001 Torrent Bay Township Committee Gazette noticeoutboundoutbound for Torrent Bay Township Committee General Exemption	31/12/2028	Final decision paper for Torrent Bay Township Committee
Department of Conservation	Department of Conservation	Exemption No. 003 Department of Conservation Gazette noticeoutboundoutbound for Department of Conservation General Exemption	10/04/2029	Final decision paper for Department of Conservation
Department of Conservation	Department of Conservation	Exemption No. 004 Department of Conservation Gazette noticeoutboundoutbound for Department of Conservation General Exemption	05/02/2030	Final decision paper for Department of Conservation

Residual disinfection exemptions

Supplier	Supply Name + ID	Exemption	Expiry Date	Final Decision Paper
Selwyn District Council	Rakaia Huts (RAK003)	Exemption No. 002 - Rakaia Huts	01/02/2029	Final decision paper for the Selwyn District Council

Class exemptions

We have not granted any class exemptions.

Exemptions declined or not granted

When an exemption application is declined or not granted, we will publish the decision paper which sets out the final decision and the reasons for it.

The following is the public list of exemption applications we have received and our decision: 