Monitoring and testing water

Testing is a vital part of ensuring that the drinking water we provide is safe and always meets the Ministry of Health’s drinking water standards.

Watercare Laboratory Services

Our lab is accredited by International Accreditation New Zealand to ISO 17025 (general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories). An automated computer network analyses the water quality at our treatment plants 24 hours a day.

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Continuous testing

Every day our technicians carry out an average of 250 tests on water samples from points across the network. We monitor and test water quality throughout the process of collecting and treating water.

For example, before we begin treating raw water, we thoroughly check it for contaminants that would be harmful to your health. These include algae, faecal coliforms, giardia and cryptosporidium.

Testing at this stage ensures we’re using the correct treatment processes for a particular source of water. It also allows us to take actions like restricting the use of a source if there is an unusual result.

We test the water leaving our water treatment plants, checking chemical parameters and looking for any signs of micro-organisms in the water. We also monitor the pH, water clarity and residual chlorine.

See our water quality reports

Protecting your health

 To protect public health, our contingency measures include:

  • Temporary closure of a supply

  • Varying the treatment process

  • Isolating affected assets/areas

  • Supplying water from other supply points or sources

  • Using a tanker to provide water.

Learn more: Drinking water quality

Keeping you informed

In the highly unlikely event that the water we supply becomes unsafe to drink, we or the Medical Officer of Health will alert the public immediately.

We will carry out further testing during and after an investigation to identify the cause.

You can be confident that the water flowing from your taps always meets drinking water standards.

Learn more: Outages and interruptions

Concerned about your water?

If you have any problems with the quality of water we supply, such as a change in clarity, taste or smell, please phone 09 442 2222, press 1 or email [email protected].

We will investigate and if necessary test it to find the cause.