Attorney General David Parker and Health Minister David Clark on the drinking water quality report released today. 100,000 New Zealanders may be exposed to sub-standard water. / Video by Mark Mitchell
"You'll find probably there are more regulations around making a chicken sandwich than there are around drinking water."
Those are the words of the Christchurch City Council's general manager of city services, David Adamson, who says he fully supports updating legislation around potable water.
In Christchurch about 330,000 people havebeen supplied with untreated water.
However, that could change after the second stage of the
He said if the Government decided it wanted all New Zealand drinking water treated urgently, it would have to consider supporting local authorities, businesses and individuals in the process.
Health Minister David Clark, left, and Attorney-General David Parker during their press conference at Parliament, after the drinking water quality report was released yesterday. Photo / Mark Mitchell
"One hundred million dollars would be very difficult for Christchurch to meet in the short term," Adamson said.
That was largely because of the burden of earthquake recovery costs, he said.
The Havelock North inquiry panel wanted all drinking water treated immediately, until law changes made it compulsory.
It says treatment should include a residual disinfectant in the reticulation.
Canterbury DHB medical officer of health, Dr Alistair Humphrey said "chlorination should be the default position" for treating water in the region.
He said the Christchurch City Council's focus on investing in reticulation, protecting source water and increasing monitoring "provides at least as good a barrier as simply tossing chlorine into the water".
Dr Humphrey said an important part of the report was the emphasis on protecting water sources such as catchments.
"I don't think we have had strong support from our leaders in Wellington on the issue, but I think that is now going to change" he said.
