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Water Services Act 2021

Preliminary provisions - Interpretation - Key terms

7: Meaning of safe in relation to drinking water

You could also call this:

"What makes drinking water safe for you to drink"

Illustration for Water Services Act 2021

When you think about drinking water being safe, it means the water is unlikely to cause serious harm or make you ill. You need to consider if the water could cause harm immediately or over time. The water could be harmful because of what is in it, or because of other things that happen when you drink it. The government checks if the water is safe by looking at things like drinking water standards. If the water meets these standards, it is a good sign that the water is safe for you to drink. Just because you do not like the taste of the water, or it looks funny, does not mean it is not safe. The water can still have some things in it, like chemicals or tiny living things, and still be safe for you to drink, as long as they are within acceptable limits.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS374661.

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Part 1Preliminary provisions
Interpretation: Key terms

7Meaning of safe in relation to drinking water

  1. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, safe, in relation to drinking water, means drinking water that is unlikely to cause a serious risk of death, injury, or illness,—

  2. immediately or over time; and
    1. whether or not the serious risk is caused by—
      1. the consumption or use of drinking water; or
        1. other causes together with the consumption or use of drinking water.

        2. For the purposes of subsection (1), the assessment of serious risk must take into account, among other factors, compliance with drinking water standards.

        3. Drinking water is not unsafe merely because—

        4. a person objects to it, or substances in it, because of personal preference; or
          1. it does not comply with aesthetic values; or
            1. it contains substances that comply with minimum or maximum acceptable values for chemical, radiological, microbiological, or other characteristics of drinking water in the drinking water standards.