Compliance Explained

Use this page to understand the compliance details as listed against a particular supply. For a more general explanation of compliance with the Drinking-Water Standards, see the compliance monitoring page.

Compliance with What?

Community drinking-water supplies in New Zealand are expected to demonstrate compliance with the New Zealand Drinking-Water Standards 2005 or 2000. These specify water monitoring (ie taking samples for testing) and other requirements for supplies, both at the treatment plant and within the distribution zone itself.

The number of samples to be tested varies depending upon the size of the community, the quality of source water being used (eg deep groundwater versus river or lake water), and the treatments and risk-minimising processes that are in place.

Compliance with the Standards is measured by looking at how the zone or plant meets the requirements for a 12 month period. Data on this website is from a survey for the 2005 calendar year, which is the latest period for which data has been publicly released.

The Ministry of Health website has the full report for the 2005 calendar year which you can download as a set of pdf files.

How to Read a Compliance Page

The short answer: Read the colour code. Green is good, red is bad, and other colours are somewhat in-between.
For the full story, read on ...

Compliance in the Distribution Zone

Compliance is concerned here with E. coli compliance

Status or comment	Explanation
Yes	Meets compliance requirements for E. coli
From month year	Meets compliance requirements for E. coli from this month onwards. (This option aims to encourage previously non-compliers to improve their monitoring at the earliest opportunity, and to be recognised for that.)
No	Fails to comply - either because the water quality was shown to be inadequate, or because the monitoring programme was insufficent to demonstrate otherwise.
No data available	The supply is newly registered, or has been restructured in some way, so that the current active zones are different to those active at the time of the Annual Review.
Transgressions	E. coli detected in more water samples than the minimum number allowable for a zone of this population.
No samples taken	No E. coli samples taken (or recorded.)
Not enough samples	Some monitoring samples taken, but not enough. (The Standards specify how many and how often, etc.)
Inadequate Scheduling	Enough samples were taken, but either there were excessively long gaps between samples at some dates, or else samples were concentrated on too few days of the week. (For example, if all samples are taken on Mondays, the supply will not comply.)
No evidence that corrective actions were taken	If E. coli transgressions are found in monitoring samples, the water supplier must take appropriate corrective actions to recheck the quality, fix any problems, and if necessary inform health authorities and warn consumers.
Corrective Actions taken, but delayed	Corrective actions taken too slowly to meet the requirements of the Standards and to minimise the potential risk to consumers.
Not a recognised laboratory	Only samples analysed by a Ministry of Health recognised laboratory are acceptable for demonstrating compliance. Who are these laboratories?

Priority 2 Determinands Compliance at the Zone

The Distribution Zone Compliance entries on this website are only for E. coli. If a supply has Priority 2 determinands listed against it (eg "Test for: Lead, Nickel" on its Compliance or Register structure), then it needs to monitor for those determinands as well. Details of Priority 2 compliance will be added to this website in the future.

Compliance at the Treatment Plant

1. E. coli Compliance at the Plant

While following the zone compliance pattern, plant compliance is more complicated because E. coli compliance in some chlorinated supplies can be demonstrated by continuous monitoring of FAC rather than sampling for E. coli.

FAC stands for "Free Available Chlorine", which is the residual disinfection capability remaining in the water as it leaves the plant. If continuous FAC is measured, then turbidity and pH must also be at acceptable levels and measured continuously as well.

Status or comment	Explanation
Yes (by FAC)	Meets compliance requirements for E. coli using continous FAC
Yes (by E. coli)	Meets compliance requirements for E. coli, by monitoring for E. coli
From month year	Meets compliance requirements for E. coli from this month onwards. (see zone comment.)
No	Fails to comply - either because the water quality was shown to be inadequate, or because the monitoring programme was insufficent to demonstrate otherwise.
Exempt from monitoring	No E. coli monitoring is required for some small supplies (up to 3 buildings) where the plant is close to the reticulation. The plant compliance is therefore assumed to be as for the zone compliance.
No data available	The supply is newly registered, or has been restructured in some way, so that the current active plants are different to those active at the time of the Annual Review.
(by FAC) (by E. coli.) etc.	The method used to comply. It may also say "by FAC or E. coli" or "method unspecified" when the actual method cannot be deduced from the raw data used for this website. This can happen when a supplier starts with continuous FAC but also does some E. coli while a spurious result is examined. In such cases, the method of compliance may only be confirmed through notes in the full WINZ database entry, which is beyond the scope of this website.
The next entries refer solely to E. coli monitoring rather than FAC. Note that if continuous FAC cannot show compliance at particular times, for example if turbidity becomes too high during heavy rain, then the supplier is expected to monitor E. coli until the situation improved.
Transgressions	E. coli was present at levels greater than the maximum allowable value, and occurred in more water samples than the minimum allowable for a plant supplying this population.
No E. coli samples taken	No E. coli samples taken (or the results not recorded.)
Not enough samples	Some monitoring samples taken, but not enough. (The Standards specify how many and how often, etc.)
Inadequate Scheduling	Enough samples were taken, but either there were excessively long gaps between samples at some dates, or else samples were concentrated on too few days of the week. (For example, if all samples are taken on Mondays, a supply will not comply.)
No evidence that corrective actions were taken	If transgressions (ie high results) are found in monitoring samples, the water supplier must take appropriate corrective actions to recheck the quality, fix any problems, and if necessary inform health authorities and warn consumers.
Corrective Actions taken, but delayed	Corrective actions taken too slowly to meet the requirements of the Standards and to minimise the potential risk to consumers.
Not a recognised laboratory	Only samples analysed by a Ministry of Health Recognised Laboratory are acceptable for demonstrating compliance. Who are these laboratories?

2. Protozoa Compliance at the Plant

Protozoa (Giardia and Cryptosporidium) compliance is also required at the Plant. Since it is difficult and expensive to directly determine these, protozoa compliance is based upon evidence of adequate barriers in place to keep these organisms from the supply.

In brief, these methods include one of:

coagulation/flocculation treatment, with effectiveness confirmed by low turbidity.
filtration without coagulation, confirmed by particle analysis
disinfection by ozone or chlorine dioxide
water is from a 'secure' groundwater source

Status or comment	Explanation
Yes	Meets compliance requirements for protozoa
No	Fails to comply - either because the water quality was shown to be inadequate, or because the barriers in place are inadequate to remove protozoa.
No data available	No data recorded, or supply restructured since the compliance year.

3. Priority 2 Determinands Compliance at the Plant

As for zones, if a supply has Priority 2 determinands listed against it (eg "Test for: Lead, Nickel" on its Compliance or Register structure), then it needs to monitor for those determinands as well. Details of plant Priority 2 compliance will be added to this website in the future.

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