By providing safe drinking water people are protected from waterborne illness.
Water suppliers are responsible for ensuring that the drinking-water they provide is safe for consumption, regardless of the number of people served and the type of population.
The latest revision of the Drinking-Water Standards for New Zealand (DWSNZ: 2005) includes a chapter that is specific to small community water supplies. ESR personnel had a major role in the development of the small supplies chapter for the DWSNZ and supporting resources.
For drinking-water supplies serving small populations (fewer than 500 people), the development and implementation of a public health risk management plan (PHRMP) has been built into the compliance criteria of the DWSNZ:2005. A simplified PHRMP template has been developed for suppliers of water to small communities. This template is available on the Ministry of Health website, together with an accompanying video/DVD.
The PHRMP covers three aspects of the water supply: the catchment and intake; treatment and storage; and, distribution. The PHRMP also helps to identify whether any of the following four barriers to water contamination are missing, these are:
- prevention of contaminants entering the source water;
- removal of particles from the water (where many of the germs hide);
- killing germs; and
- prevention of recontamination after treatment.
The development and implementation of PHRMPs will:
- guide both day-to-day actions and long-term planning;
- identify regular monitoring and inspections that signal deteriorating water quality and prompt action;
- identify regular on-going maintenance to reduce the chance of failure of any of the four barriers to contamination;
- list where to get help, who needs to know what about the status of the PHRMP and drinking-water quality, and how quickly they need to know; and
- provide direction for improvements and expenditure.
The DWSNZ: 2005 document is available on the Ministry of Health’s webpage.