Drinking Water Report 2020/21

Yes, Hastings District Council has a comprehensive Water Safety Plan that is approved by the Ministry of Health’s Drinking Water Assessors. The supply is tested constantly and passes all of those tests.

Because the main supply does not have validated and monitored UV treatment yet (it’s being installed as part of the Frimley and Waiaroha upgrades), the water supply is automatically non-compliant in one of the four elements in the criteria: Protozoal. To ensure the water is safe while those facilities are being built, Council uses constant on-line monitoring of the supply and back-up testing to ensure the water is safe to drink. It passes the remaining three criteria: Health, Bacterial and Chemical.

The main urban supply passed the other three criteria: Health, Bacterial and Chemical.

It is non-compliant in one out of four criteria. To pass the Protozoal criteria under the current rules, validated and monitored UV is required. That is being installed as part of the new Frimley and Waiaroha water storage and treatment facilities. In the meantime, comprehensive testing is being carried out to ensure the water is safe to drink.

Protozoa are single celled organisms that can cause illness. They have not been detected in Hastings’ water (treated or untreated). However, to be sure Hastings’ drinking water is protected from such contamination the new UV treatment systems, which kill protozoa, are being installed. The Havelock North contamination in 2016 was related to bacterial contamination, not protozoal contamination.

Waimarama is recorded as Protozoal non-compliant, as the report is for 2020/2021 when that drinking water supply did not have UV. It has since been installed and is operational.

Waipatiki is recorded as Protozoal non-compliant for the same reason; its UV treatment is being installed as part of an upgrade to the drinking water supply that is currently underway.

All other Council-managed water supplies passed all criteria.

The supply is expected to be compliant once the water upgrades have been completed. Frimley water treatment and storage facility is due to be completed mid-2022; Waiaroha is due to be completed mid-2023.