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Water Services Act 2021

Preliminary provisions - Interpretation - Key terms

12: Meaning of owner

You could also call this:

"Who is in charge of the drinking water supply"

Illustration for Water Services Act 2021

When you are talking about a drinking water supply in this Act, the owner is the person who has control over it. You can tell who has control by looking at things like who owns the water pipes and equipment. You also consider who owns the land the equipment is on, or who makes decisions about maintenance and funding. You might think about who collects money from people who use the water, or who decides how the water supply is managed. This can include who has the power to hire other people to do work on the supply. The person who has control is the owner of the drinking water supply.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS374676.

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Topics:
Health and wellbeing > Public healthEnvironment and resources > Food and water safety
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"What is an operator of a drinking water supply?"

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"Where your drinking water supply connects to your home or property"

Part 1Preliminary provisions
Interpretation: Key terms

12Meaning of owner

  1. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, owner, in relation to a drinking water supply, means the person who has effective control of the drinking water supply.

  2. The matters that may be considered for the purpose of determining whether a person has effective control of a drinking water supply include whether the person—

  3. owns the drinking water infrastructure; or
    1. owns or has long-term control of the land on which the drinking water infrastructure is based; or
      1. directs or has control over decisions about the funding or maintenance of the drinking water infrastructure, or collects fees, levies, or other charges from consumers in relation to the infrastructure; or
        1. controls how the management of the supply is resourced (for example, has the power to subcontract work).