Five years of stronger protections for New Zealand's drinking water

Five years ago, the Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowai became New Zealand’s drinking water regulator. Now, hundreds of thousands more New Zealanders are benefiting from stronger drinking water protections.

Since its establishment in November 2021, the Authority has set up a national drinking water regulatory system, introduced new Drinking Water Standards and Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules, strengthened monitoring and enforcement, and improved public reporting on the performance and risks of water services.

Authority Acting Chief Executive, Yazmin Juned, says the fifth anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on how far the drinking water system has come, while recognising there is more work ahead.

“Five years ago, we started with a clear vision - helping ensure everyone in New Zealand has access to safe drinking water every day.
“We’ve built a much stronger national regulatory system, but the most important measure of progress is the positive impact on people and communities.

“More New Zealanders are now receiving drinking water from supplies with treatment barriers in place to protect them from contamination, suppliers have a clearer understanding of their responsibilities, and we have much greater visibility of risks across the system.”

One of the Authority’s major areas of focus has been ensuring drinking water supplies have multiple treatment barriers in place to protect against harmful microorganisms.

In late 2023, the Authority identified 98 council-operated supplies serving more than half a million people that were missing one or more critical treatment barriers.

Addressing this through regulatory action and engagement with councils, more than 433,000 people are now receiving safer drinking water.

Smaller communities have also benefited. Nearly 50,000 people living in 491 small, rural communities have started treating their drinking water using Acceptable Solutions. These provide a practical, lower-cost way for smaller supplies to improve water safety, including by treating water at the point it enters a household.

Recent results show ongoing progress. At the end of 2025, an additional 415,000 people were served by council supplies with protozoal treatment barriers compared with 2023. Self-supplied schools also recorded a 16 percent reduction in E. coli detections compared with 2024, while long-term drinking water advisories at these schools fell from 17 to seven.

Yazmin Juned says these improvements demonstrate what can be achieved through clear expectations, practical solutions and effective and sustained engagement with suppliers.

“The Authority’s regulatory priorities include improving treatment barriers, strengthening compliance with the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules, addressing long-term consumer advisories and improving the quality of information available to support effective regulation.

“Regulation is ultimately about achieving better outcomes for people. That means being clear about the protections that need to be in place, supporting suppliers to find practical ways to meet those requirements, and taking action when serious risks are not being addressed.”

The Authority’s role has expanded beyond drinking water. Its system oversight and leadership of wastewater and stormwater responsibilities have been added to over the last five years, extending its role across the wider water services system.

The next five years

Despite the progress made, important gaps remain.

Around 16 percent of New Zealand’s population is not served by registered drinking water supplies, meaning the Authority does not yet have a complete picture of how well those supplies are treating drinking water. At the end of 2025, 51 council supplies still lacked a protozoal barrier, and only 45 percent of large council supplies met all distribution network safety assurance requirements.

Yazmin Juned says the Authority’s next phase will build on the foundations established over its first five years.

“Safe drinking water can never be taken for granted. Risks change, infrastructure ages and communities have different needs and challenges.

“Our focus now is on sustaining the progress we have made and tackling the areas where risks remain. That includes providing guidance and information to help smaller and community-owned supplies, improving consistency and capability across the sector, and continuing to focus our regulatory effort where it can have the greatest impact on public health.

“We also have an increasingly important role across wastewater and stormwater. Looking across the water services system gives us an opportunity to provide stronger system leadership and a clearer picture of where New Zealand is making progress and where more attention is needed.

“There is much more to do, but five years on we have created a significant and strong foundation to build from.”

Background

• The Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowai became New Zealand’s drinking water regulator in November 2021.
• The Drinking Water Standards and Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules came into effect in 2022.
• Annual drinking water reports have been published since 2022, providing greater public visibility of drinking water performance and risks.
• More than 481,000 people are receiving safer drinking water through additional treatment barriers and the use of end-point Acceptable Solutions.
• Ten years on from Havelock North, New Zealand's drinking water system is stronger and safer