We understand the increased stress of navigating and understanding the new Rules and Regulations determined by Taumata Arowai. We have been working hard to keep ourselves as informed and up-to-date on new drafts and solutions to help you implement them as seamlessly as possible.

Pure Hydration has access to some of the most innovative technology solutions to engage and meet all the new regulations, taking further stress off you in finding the right products to fit your specific category of water supply.

Please find below some relevant information on determining if you are identified as a water supplier, what category you may fall into and new Drinking water standards.

Pure Hydration is following the developments and new drafts of The Water Services Act 2021 that came into effect on 15 November 2021, there are multiple drafts for the following acceptable water solutions for suppliers:

Roof Water Supplies
Spring and Bore Water Supplies
Rural Agricultural Water Supplies

Acceptable Solutions provide drinking water suppliers with a ready-made option to meet your compliance obligations under the Water Services Act 2021. They apply to particular supply types and situations and must be implemented in their entirety. The Draft Solutions can be found Here

Clarification on who a water supplier
If you own or operate a water supply (that you know, or ought reasonably to know) is being used as drinking water by people outside of your own home, you are a drinking water supplier and will have responsibilities under the Act.

Water carriers who transport drinking water for consumption are also drinking water suppliers.

The Act doesn’t apply to bottled water that is manufactured and sold by a food business or water that is used for purposes regulated under the Food Act 2014, the Animal Products Act 1999, or the Wine Act 2003.

Components of a drinking water supply
A drinking water supply comprises the infrastructure and processes used to abstract water from a source, and to store, treat, transmit, or transport drinking water to a point of supply for consumers or other drinking water suppliers. It will generally have one or more of each of the following components: 1. source water abstraction 2. water treatment plant 3. distribution system. Through the registration process, Taumata Arowai allocates unique identifier numbers to registered water supplies, sources, treatment plants, and distribution zones.

Each of these categories have prepared rules and regulations that must be implemented in their entirety,

New Drinking Water Standards
Drinking Water Standards (Standards) set the Maximum Acceptable Values (MAVs) for a range of contaminants which can affect the safety and quality of drinking water. They are based on guideline values set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).  

The Standards will come into effect on 14 November 2022. Taumata Arowai understands that it may be difficult for registered water suppliers to implement sampling and compliance reporting requirements by 14 November, therefore they expect suppliers to comply with the new reporting requirements by 1 January 2023.

The existing Drinking-water Standards for New Zealand 2005 (revised 2018) will remain in effect until then.

Categories of a Drinking Water Supply

1. Very small supplies
Supplies with a stable population base of less than 50 people*.

2. Rural and small community supplies
Supplies with a stable population base of 50 to 500 people*

3. Large urban supplies
Supplies with a stable population base of more than 500 people*.

4. Varying Population Size Supplies
Supplies where for most of the time there is a stable base population but at certain times the population increases significantly.
An example of a varying population size is a small community with holiday homes where the population grows substantially over the holiday season.

5. Supplies for event-based populations
Supplies which normally have no normal population or a very low population, (up to five people) and where events held at a place supplied by the water supply cause an influx of people and increase demand on the supply for a limited amount of time. For example, events held at a marae such as hui or tangi, or events at a community hall.

6. Planned Event Temporary Drinking Water Supplies
This situation covers short term events where people gather and where a drinking water supply is required for the duration of an event which continues for a limited time.
For example, events like music festivals, farm field days, civil defence, or military exercises.

7. Community drinking water stations
Supplies that provide water from a single site to a community who collect the water in containers.
An example of this is a tap that is not connected to a networked drinking water supply, which the public can use to collect drinking water in containers.

8. Self-supplied building drinking water supplies
This covers the situation where water is provided to a single building. This does not include supply solely to a stand-alone domestic dwelling.

9. Water Carrier Services

This covers the situation where water that is supplied from a vehicle with a water tank (e.g. a truck, trailer, or rail wagon), often to a storage tank on a property.