Auckland drinking water gets top marks for every zone

16/07/2018
Confirmation of Watercare’s system-wide Aa-grading for drinking water is an endorsement of all the work – from source to tap – that goes into ensuring Auckland’s water is safe to drink..

We received confirmation of the ‘Aa’ grading from the Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) in June.

The big ‘A’ represents the quality of the water leaving the treatment plants, and takes the quality of the source water into consideration. The little ‘a’ shows that we operate our distribution networks to the same high standard.
 
Head of operations excellence Priyan Perera says our ‘Aa’ grading means Aucklanders can have complete confidence in their water supply.
 
“It means when someone turns on the tap, they can be sure that they can drink the water straight away. And that’s actually pretty rare around the world.

“The ‘Aa’ grading is an endorsement of the systems we have in place to manage our water sources and their catchments, the way we operate our treatment plants, and all the work that’s done in the distribution network to ensure the water remains safe to drink. Key to making this all work is of course our people, who are experts in drinking water supply.”

He says to make sure we consistently meet the New Zealand Drinking Water Standards in all zones all of the time, our standards are set higher than the targets.

“In NCEA speak – we don’t want to merely ‘achieve’, we want to be ‘excellent’.”

Chief operations officer Shane Morgan agrees.

“At a time when the rest of New Zealand is grappling with the value and cost of providing reliable and safe drinking water, it is reassuring that Watercare continues to lead the industry with our approach to securing ‘Aa’ grade water for all of our customers.”

A report from the Ministry of Health released last month revealed that the water supplied to nearly one in five New Zealanders failed to meet New Zealand Drinking Water Standards.