Drinking Water
Kaikōura District Council operates 8 public water supply schemes supplying water/kātao to over 3,000 properties.
On this page:
- Drinking water in Kaikōura: reporting a problem, working out what you pay for and our planned work
- Our water schemes: location, treatment, water quality status and background
- Boil water notices: what they are and how to find out if you're on one
- Plumbosolvency notice: reminder to flush your taps
- How we look after your drinking water: our safety plans and how we're working to meet national standards
- Useful links: Links with more information relating to the topics on this page
Drinking water in Kaikōura
Kaikōura District Council operates 8 public water supply schemes supplying water to over 3,000 properties. For full information on each scheme check the information on this page under 'Our Water Schemes'.
For a full list of the current Boil Water Notices, check the Boil Water Notice Reminder under Latest News.
The November 2016 earthquake caused significant and expensive damage to a number of our water schemes. In addition, operational costs (maintenance, sampling and testing, power, treatment etc) have continued since the quake and in some cases, increased significantly.
We’ve sought and received significant funding from our insurers and the Crown towards the repairs. The government will cover 60% of all water repairs and renewals for earthquake damaged infrastructure. Ratepayer contributions help cover the operational and capital costs not covered by the Crown or insurers.
Water Supply Problems
If you have a problem with your water supply, check if it's a problem with the pipes in your house, or the pipe between the Council’s service valve and your house. If this is the case, you will need to call a plumber and work with them to fix the problem as it is on private property.
If the problem is on the Council side of the 'point of supply', contact us and log a service request so that we can fix it for you. To log a request, call us on 03 319 5026 or register a Request for Service here.
Paying for water in Kaikōura
Council splits the rates for water into a number of different charges to help spread the costs of supplying safe drinking water as fairly as possible. These are:
To fund the costs of the supply, treatment, upgrading and maintenance of the Kaikōura water supply, including the Suburban water scheme, as well as to partially subsidise the net costs of the Peketa and Oaro water supplies.
Category:
- Full Charge: All rateable properties connected to the Kaikōura water supply. $396.92
- Half Charge: All rateable properties situated within 100 metres of any part of the Kaikōura water supply, but not connected to the supply.
Annual cost per separately used or inhabited part of a rating unit:
- Full charge: $396.92
- Half charge: $198.92
To fund the loan servicing costs of the Kaikōura water supply.
Category:
- All rateable properties situated within 100 metres of any part of the Kaikōura water supply.
Annual cost per separately used or inhabited part of a rating unit:
- $47.96
To fund the costs of the supply, treatment, and maintenance of the Ocean Ridge water supply.
Category:
- Full Charge: All rateable properties connected to the Ocean Ridge water supply.
- Half Charge: All rateable properties situated within 100 metres of any part of the Ocean Ridge water supply, but not connected to the supply.
Annual cost per separately used or inhabited part of a rating unit:
- Full Charge: $396.92
- Half Charge: $198.46
To fund the supply, treatment, upgrading, and maintenance of the following water supply areas.
Category:
- East Coast Rural Water Charge: all rateable properties connected to the East Coast rural water supply.
- Kincaid Rural Water Charge: all rateable properties connected to the Kincaid rural water supply.
- Oaro Rural Water Charge: all rateable properties connected to the Oaro rural water supply
- Peketa Rural Water Charge: all rateable properties connected to the Peketa rural water supply.
- Suburban Water Charge: all rateable properties within the Suburban water area
- Fernleigh Rural Water Charge: all rateable properties connected to the Fernleigh rural water supply
Annual cost per separately used or inhabited part of a rating unit:
- East Coast Rural Water Charge: $690.00 per water unit (1,800 litres per 24 hours)**
- Kincaid Rural Water Charge: $267.40 per water unit (1,000 litres per 24 hours)**
- Oaro Rural Water Charge: $396.92
- Peketa Rural Water Charge: $396.92
- Suburban Water Charge: $277.84 per water unit (1,000 litres per 24 hours)**
- Fernleigh Rural Water Charge: $108.24 per water unit (1,000 litres per 24 hours)**
Useful Links
- Complaint or request for service
- Annual Plan
- Food and Health NZ
- Current Boil Water Notices
- Health (Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2007
10 July 2018
*Figures taken from the 2018-2021 3 Year Plan
**A “water unit” refers to a certain water connection, generally a rural water connection, that restricts the quantity of water supplied to a property, to the quantity of litres per day as specified
Drinking Water Standards
The Health (Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2007 (an amendment to the Health Act 1956) came into force on 1 July 2008. This requires Councils to monitor drinking water and to take all practicable steps to comply with the Drinking Water Standards (DWS) as well as to implement risk management plans.
Three main themes are covered under the DWS:
- Maximum Acceptable Values (water quality standards for microbial, chemical and radiological determinants)
- Compliance criteria and reporting requirements
- Remedial actions to be taken when non-compliance is detected.
How we look after your drinking water
Water Safety Plans (WSPs) are a tool used by Councils to help ensure that drinking water meets NZ legal requirements and health guidelines. Council must have a WSP for each water scheme.
They assess a drinking water scheme, the risks and demands associated with it, and include plans for treatment, distribution and monitoring to help manage water quality and reducing the risk of contamination.
If needed, the plan also includes recommendations about what work is needed to make sure the scheme complies with NZ's drinking water standards. This includes operations & maintenance, monitoring and testing and treatment upgrades.
Council works with Food and Health NZ to look after our water schemes, including work on our WSPs. Information about the current WSP status for Kaikōura's water safety schemes can be found under the 'Our Water Schemes' section above.
Q. How do water schemes in our district get tested for chlorination?
A. All water schemes are tested at the source and in the distribution system. Free Available Chlorine (FAC) is also monitored with an apparatus that gives us a reading that displays levels of chlorination that remain in the water.
Q. How often are the schemes tested?
A. Twice a week through a lab and once a week with a portable machine on site.
Q. What determines the need to chlorinate a water scheme?
A. Each water scheme needs to have protection barriers to ensure the water is safe to drink. The Ministry of Health as a Drinking Water Assessor determines the type and level of barrier that each water scheme shall have.
Q. Is the chlorine added according to need or is there a certain amount added for all schemes requiring chlorination?
A. Maximum and minimum values are set in the Drinking Water Standards for New Zealand (DWSNZ). All water schemes need to fall in the given values.
Q. Is there any possibility of chlorination levels dropping in Kaikōura's water schemes?
A. All water schemes need to be within the DWSNZ levels set. Chlorination levels will not be altered unless they fall below the minimum or above the maximum set by DWSNZ.
Plumbosolvency Notice
Some plumbing fittings have the potential to allow minute traces of metals to accumulate in water that is standing in the fittings for several hours.
Although the health risk is small, the Ministry of Health recommends you flush a mugful of water from your drinking-water tap each morning before use to remove any metals which may have dissolved from the plumbing fittings.
We recommend this simple precaution for all households, including those on public and private water supplies.
Boil water notices
A number of our water schemes are currently on BWN's. Some of these are due to earthquake damage, some are longer-term issues.To check if your scheme is on a BWN, why and how long we expect the BWN to be in place check out the Boil Water Notice Reminder under Latest News.
Boil Water Notices (BWN) are put in place when there is an elevated risk of contamination of the supply or routine testing results show that acceptable limits for contaminants have been exceeded.
We know living with Boil Water Notices can be frustrating. We’re doing everything we can to improve water quality and remove the notices as soon as possible whilst keeping people healthy.
Residents or visitors using water from schemes with Boil Water Notices in place should boil all drinking/cooking water for at least 1 minute before use. This includes water for:
- Drinking
- Cooking
- Making Ice
- Brushing Teeth
- Washing Dishes
Our Water Schemes
Location: download a map
Water Quality Status: No known issues
Number of properties: 1635
Treatment Type: Chlorine gas disinfection, not fluoridated.
Notes: The township is supplied from a ground water source with water that is proving to be of exceptional quality and reliability.
Scheme type:
Location: download a map
Water Quality Status: No known issues
Number of properties: 43
Treatment Type: UV disinfection, cartridge filtration.
Notes: Ocean Ridge is the residential subdivision to the south of the Kaikōura Township, spanning approximately 142 hectares. The current supply was constructed in 2006 and is considered to be appropriate for a population of up to 500 people.
Scheme type: Rural water scheme (restricted, water unit = 1800 litres per 24 hours)
Location: download a map
Water Quality Status: Boil Water Notice
Number of properties: 34
Treatment Type: Nil
Notes: The East Coast supply is predominantly a rural stock supply, sourced from a 37m deep underground aquifer located on the bank of the Clarence River. The system consists of three reinforced concrete tanks of varying storage capacities and one HDPE tank approximately 25m3 . The tanks are located at different elevations to serve different areas of the community.
Some of the pipework is becoming problematic and needs to be replaced. The system would benefit from improved telemetry systems for remote monitoring of the bore and pumps.
Scheme type: Rural water scheme (restricted, water unit = 1000 litres per 24 hours)
Location: download a map
Water Quality Status: Scheme shuts down automatically after heavy rain, limiting residents supply to their domestic tank.
Download a factsheet about how the Kincaid Scheme works.
Number of properties: 193 properties
Treatment Type: UV and chlorine disinfection, filtration.
Notes: During long or very heavy rainfalls, the Kincaid water scheme supply shuts down to stop dirty water entering the system at the source. During this time, the systems main tanks are not refilling, meaning your water supply is limited to the water within the main tanks and your domestic tank. After the supply reopens, it will take a day or so for the systems main tanks to refill.
You should assume that during every long or very heavy rainfall, the scheme will shut down. The shutdown will continue throughout the poor weather, which may last several days. During this time, you should minimise your water use so that you don’t run out of water.
The Kincaid water supply is located about 10km north of Kaikōura. The scheme is fed from a shallow intake gallery located in the Waimangarara Stream at the foot of Mount Fyffe, an unprotected native forest catchment, and is therefore subject to contamination. Part of the gallery is covered in filter fabric in an attempt to reduce the amount of sediment entering the system. In 2008 a reservoir system consisting of 20 new 30m3 plastic storage tanks was installed bringing the total storage volume for Kincaid to 666m3 and providing 24 hours of storage.
Scheme type: Rural water scheme (restricted, water unit = 1000 litres per 24 hours)
Location: view map
Water Quality Status: No known issues
Number of properties: 63
Treatment Type: Chlorine gas disinfection.
Notes: The Fernleigh water supply is located to the west of the Kowhai river and inland of the Kaikōura township, and covers a large rural area to its source at Cribb Creek. It provides water for both stock and domestic purposes. In 2007 the water source dried up and an emergency bore had to be drilled. The new bore has since been operating largely without quality issues.
The Fernleigh Water Management Committee has assumed responsibility for the maintenance of the water scheme; however the Council still incurs the costs of depreciation, water monitoring, and insurance, recovered from consumers through the Fernleigh water charge.
Location: download map
Water Quality Status: No known issues
Number of properties: 67
Treatment Type: Filtration and UV disinfection.
Notes: The Oaro water supply was constructed in 1995, drawing its water from a shallow borehole approximately 100m from the Oaro River. The scheme consists of the borehole, a pumping and treatment system, four storage tanks and a distribution system. The system is maintained to a very high standard with no water leaks in either the pumping system or the reticulation.
The Oaro supply is partially subsidised by Kaikōura urban water consumers, who will provide funding assistance for this project through urban water supply reserves.
Location: view map
Water Quality Status: no known issues
Number of properties: 18
Treatment Type: Cartridge filtration and UV disinfection.
Notes: Situated within the Peketa village, Peketa is Kaikōura's smallest public water scheme. The scheme consists of a shallow well, a pumping and treatment system, a surge tank and a distribution system. The scheme has no storage tanks; instead water is pumped directly from the bore into the distribution system. There is a small provision of underground storage for firefighting purposes.
Location: view map
Scheme type: Rural water scheme (restricted, water unit = 1000 litres per 24 hours)
Water Quality Status: Boil Water Notice
Number of properties: 73
Treatment Type:
Notes: The Suburban Water Supply was created in 2006. The scheme draws its water from the Waimangarara Stream at the foot of Mount Fyffe. Currently there is no storage provision for this system, and most of the properties on this scheme have restricted supply and have their own storage facilities.
Water Meter Charges
Certain properties are “extraordinary consumers”, such as commercial and accommodation premises, homes with swimming pools, and properties with more than one connection. These properties are metered and water meter charges apply in addition to the applicable rates above.
Water meters are read twice each year in January and July, and the consumers are charged for the amount of water they use. Payments are 20 February and 20 August.
On restricted schemes, water usage which exceeds the daily water unit allowance will be charged at $1.00 per cubic meter (including GST).
All properties with a meter will incur a twice‐annual meter maintenance charge of $25.00 ($50.00 per year) to cover the costs of the meter as well as administration expenses.
*Figures taken from the 2018-2021 3 Year Plan
**A “water unit” refers to a certain water connection, generally a rural water connection, that restricts the quantity of water supplied to a property, to the quantity of litres per day as specified
