Whanganui District Council committed to UV protection for drinking water ahead of new national standards

The Whanganui District Council says it's preparing to have UV protection for drinking water installed. Photo / 123rf

The Whanganui District Council has committed to upgrading the region’s drinking water protections with new national drinking water standards on the horizon.

At a long-term plan workshop focused on council infrastructure, councillors heard new national water services regulator Taumata Arowai has lifted the bar for national drinking water standards, including that treatment systems must have ultraviolet (UV) disinfection.

Council chief executive David Langford said Whanganui’s active water bores currently did not require the extra protection of UV treatment as they were deep and therefore less vulnerable to contamination, including protozoa, getting into the water source.

However, this was set to change with the new drinking water safety standards coming into effect in the future.

Protozoa is the name for a group of micro-organisms, including cryptosporidium and giardia, which have the potential to cause serious illness if present in a community.

Scoping and design work was already under way to have UV protection installed as soon as possible, Langford said.

“The council is taking the initiative to put in the extra protection and this will mean our drinking water supply will be even safer for our community.

“Drinking water standards have been raised by Taumata Arowai and we don’t want to be left behind.”

Along with the existing chlorination of the drinking water, UV will ensure the supply has multiple barriers of protection, including against protozoa.

Senior water engineer Dave Rudolph said there was a robust testing regime in place for active bores, including significant ongoing monitoring of bacterial organisms like E.coli.

He said a council investigation into UV treatment to provide even more protection had begun well before the current cryptosporidium outbreak in Queenstown which had resulted in boil water notices being issued for the community.

“We are committed to reducing any risk to our community and providing multi-barrier protection will put us in the best possible position,” Rudolph said.

“We know local authorities around the country are also dealing with these new regulations.

“Source protection is the key. We understand where we need to be to meet the new rules and the UV work has been identified in our long-term plan budgets.”