Water wake-up call for Kiwis

Safe drinking water used to be one of those things we Kiwis prided ourselves on, like our 100 per cent pure brand, and our nous with a piece of No 8 wire. Bang goes another myth. A government inquiry, ordered in the wake of the Havelock North gastro outbreak, paints a frightening picture of the state of our drinking water.

While 80 per cent of it is safe, outside the main centres of Auckland and Wellington the report tells a different story.

One in five Kiwis is exposed to unacceptable risks of illness, even death, from a range of potential contaminants – raw sewage, livestock effluent, crumbling asbestos pipes and chemicals leached from about 1000 disused landfills to name a few.

That’s at least 759,000 people drinking water that, in the words of the inquiry, is ‘‘not demonstrably safe to drink’’.

Of those, it notes, 92,000 are at risk of bacterial infection, 681,000 of protozoal infection, and 59,000 at risk from the long-term effects of exposure to chemicals. That figure is likely to be a ‘‘significant underestimate’’, the inquiry adds.

And the risks are increasing from earthquakes, climate change, population growth and dairy intensification.

But the most sobering reading in the report relates to the lack of leadership, and systemic failures, of our supposed watchdogs, notably the Ministry of Health. Ministry of Health boss Chai Chuah, who announced his resignation on Monday, comes in for the most scathing criticism.

The inquiry tells a sorry picture of inept and timid officials, a lack of highlevel energy or will to fix the glaring flaws exposed by the Havelock North outbreak, and a ‘‘she’ll be right’’ attitude at every level that translates as complacency.

The inquiry was told of a ‘‘softly, softly’’ approach to the enforcement of safe water standards – there had been no prosecutions, and no compliance orders since legislation was enacted in 2007.

There are echoes of the Pike River mining disaster in many of those criticisms of officialdom.

Even after the Havelock North crisis – which has now been linked to four deaths – little changed, the report found. And it calls for a major overhaul of water supplies, including mandatory treatment.

It beggars belief that many of the same mistakes are still being made.

This is likely one of the ‘‘ticking time bombs’’ the new Labour Government has been dropping hints about inheriting from National. If National had still been in power, this report would have been a political hot potato. The issue is not without political risks for Labour either – the call for mandated water treatment, for instance, won’t be universally popular. But, as far as Labour is concerned, this issue has got ‘‘opportunity’’ written all over it.

Few issues are more sensitive than the safety of drinking water, especially when it feeds into wider unease about New Zealand’s environmental branding. After weeks of being bogged down in beltway arguments about coalition documents, legislative bungles, and letting National run rings around it in the House, this is a chance for Labour to roll up its sleeves and get on with the business of running the country.

Showing leadership, even on a potentially controversial call like universal water treatment, is what governing is about.

Even better, Labour can sheet the problems back to National, and use its failure to safeguard the safety of drinking water to feed a wider narrative that the last government’s much-vaunted management skills were overrated, and that its spin hid a multitude of failings.

So, this may be the first of those ticking time bombs.

It certainly won’t be the last.