Water bill fails clean-up test

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Rural households could pay up to $600 a year for better drinking water but standards won't be improved for some of the most vulnerable consumers.

New drinking water standards will force reticulated water suppliers to comply but will not affect more than 1600 zones supplying their own water, including schools, community hospitals, marae and recreational facilities such as ski fields.

Local Government New Zealand chairman Basil Morrison says the estimated $800 million cost to councils over 10 years to upgrade the infrastructure to meet the standards is "unnecessary and unwarranted".

"We don't believe the science has been shown to say that it warrants this type of expenditure across the country. I suspect more people would have got ill through dodgy chicken than there ever would have been through drinking our water in New Zealand."

Of the 624 schools and early childhood centres not connected to council water supplies, 537 will not have to comply even though they either fail the standards or have poor monitoring.

The same applies to three hospitals Waiheke Health Trust, whose water was found to contain E coli during 2005, and Princess Margaret Hospital in Christchurch and Ashburton Hospital, whose supplies are inadequately monitored.

The Health Ministry says the Health (Drinking Water) Amendment Bill is necessary to tackle high rates of gastro-intestinal disease and prevent a major disease outbreak. In 2005, 24% of New Zealanders received drinking water that was either below standard or ungraded. Rotorua East's water is rated "E" (very high level of risk).

But New Plymouth District Council is backing the new standards. The council's general manager of community assets Anthony Wilson says there have been "horrendous international incidents" where people have been struck down by contaminated water supplies.

"Do we really believe that it's good for New Zealand's international image if a quarter of the places where we drink water, it's not demonstrably safe?"

The Health Ministry's estimate of the cost to councils of meeting the new standards is $50 million to $275 million. Ratepayers in areas where water infrastructure has been neglected could pay up to $300 a year more, while city-dwellers may pay just a few extra dollars.

The government is putting up $150 million to help smaller suppliers meet the cost of the legislation. But Morrison says it should foot the entire bill. "I know everybody wants good water and we're working towards that, but if we want to take this giant leap there needs to be a substantial contribution from central government."

Local Government New Zealand's development and infrastructure manager Geoff Swainson said the ministry's estimate of a $300 hike per ratepayer was way too low. "We could be looking at double that."

Larger water suppliers will have to comply by July 2009 and smaller suppliers by July 2013.

- © Fairfax NZ News