All drinking water suppliers are responsible for ensuring that the drinking water they provide to people is safe. This is the case whether their drinking water supply is registered with us or not.
It is important that drinking water will not cause a serious risk of death, illness, or injury immediately or over time for those who drink it. If we provide any drinking water supplier with a direction or compliance order to take specific action to ensure their water is safe, they must comply with it.
Many other responsibilities under the Water Services Act 2021outbound don’t apply until your drinking water supply is registered and you:
- have provided a drinking water safety plan to us or
- meet all of the requirements of a drinking water Acceptable Solution.
The Government has proposed legislative changes that could impact what supplies need to be registered and by when
Right now, the Water Services Act 2021outbound (the Act) says that if you own a drinking water supply operating before 15 November 2021 not registered with the Ministry of Health, you have until:
- November 2025 to register your supply with us
- November 2028 to fully comply with the Act.
However, in August 2024, the Government announced proposed changes to water services legislation.
This includes extending the timeframe for unregistered supplies to register by an extra three years (to 2028), plus an extra two years (to 2030) to become compliant with their legal responsibilities.
A proposed change to the Act to exclude supplies that provide domestic drinking water to serving 25 or fewer people from regulation was also announced. This could mean that in future only supplies that serve over 25 people would need to be registered with us.
More information on the Government’s proposed changes is available on the Department of Internal Affairs websiteoutboundoutbound.
In the meantime, you have a duty of care to make sure the water you provide is safe. If you are unsure, consider arranging a water quality test. This will give you information about your water quality. You can then start to plan what you might need to do to make sure your water continues to be safe.
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