Guidance for schools that supply their own drinking water

As a water supplier, you must comply with the Water Services Act 2021. Your key obligations are to:

• supply safe drinking water
• provide enough drinking water
• meet the drinking water standards
• comply with the rules and directives of Taumata Arowai – The Water Services Authority as the water services regulator
• take reasonable steps to supply water that looks and tastes pleasant
• protect against backflow risk
• make sure officers, employees and staff do not put the water supply at risk.

Water Services Act 2021 – New Zealand Legislationopen_in_new

Drinking Water Standards for New Zealand Regulations 2022 – New Zealand Legislationopen_in_new

Taumata Arowai regulations

Your key obligations are to:

• update your registration with Taumata Arowai every 5 years
• regularly test your treated and source water to confirm it’s safe
• notify Taumata Arowai if your water supply is disrupted for an extended period, or is contaminated
• respond promptly to incidents of contamination, making sure you inform all users of changes to safe use
• prepare, lodge and regularly update a drinking water safety plan
• show and keep records of regular maintenance
• confirm that your water treatment plant has the treatment and monitoring equipment required to comply with the rules and standards.

Information for drinking water suppliers – Taumata Arowaiopen_in_new

As a supplier, you need to understand your water supply system. You must collect and document this information in your drinking water safety plan.

Your water system includes:

• the water source
• the water storage
• the treatment system, and
• the nature and layout of your pipe network.

Schools should have 15 to 20 litres of water available per person, per day.

All self-supplying schools must test for these bacteria every month, including during the school holidays.

If E. coli bacteria are detected, you will need to:

• restrict access to water immediately
• arrange an alternative safe supply of drinking water
• follow up on, and eliminate, the possible cause of contamination
• do 3 consecutive re-tests to confirm that the water is safe to drink again.

You will also need to test your source water. Download the guide below for more information on how and when to test your water and what to do if your water is contaminated. Using this guide is a requirement if your water is contaminated.

Logging bacteria test results

All bacterial test results – including re-test results – must be logged in the Argest portal each month. You can also upload any unlogged test results from previous months.

Log in to Argestopen_in_new

Your school or kura must follow robust hygiene practices for the safe management and operation of your drinking water supply.

You must undertake regular, scheduled maintenance of your water source, storage and treatment infrastructure. You’ll need to employ a suitably qualified professional for this work.

Download the drinking water maintenance tool for more detailed maintenance and service guidelines for your water supply.

Costs to meet compliance, maintain and test your water supply should be paid for from the Ministry of Education’s heat, light and water operation grant. When the costs are more than your grant you can claim the excess costs from us.

Heat, light and water funding – Ministry of Educationopen_in_new