The affordability of meeting accreditation requirements has forced the Wairoa District Council to close its Water Testing Laboratory at the Frasertown Water Treatment Plant.

Wairoa District Council Chief Executive Kitea Tipuna said it is with regret that this decision has been made. "We know this will inconvenience our community, Council and staff.

"It was not viable for the Council to retain the local laboratory after assessing the costs and risks in meeting the accreditation requirements based on the Water Services Act 2021.

"We are disappointed to have had to make this decision and know this will cause a disruption to those in our community who have their water tested through the local laboratory.

"Under the current regime, the Council had been undertaking water testing for compliance with the New Zealand Drinking Water Standards, providing this service for public reticulated water supplies, private water supplies (including food businesses), kura and rural schools."

Mr Tipuna said the laboratory is currently the only water testing laboratory in the district. “Council’s preference is to retain a local water testing service, particularly as Wairoa is a remote district that can be adversely impacted by natural events.”

Mr Tipuna explained the existing Wairoa water testing laboratory operates at level 2 accreditation.

The Water Services Act 2021 requires all drinking water testing laboratories to be level 1 accredited by International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ). Level 2 accredited laboratories must gain level 1 accreditation by 15 November 2024 to continue compliant testing of drinking-water samples.

“After a long process of exploring options to retain the local laboratory, the most cost-effective and pragmatic option for the Council was to outsource the laboratory water testing provision to an external provider.”

Water samples will no longer be accepted at the Council’s offices or at the Wairoa Water Treatment Plant after 31 October 2024.

The council is in the process of outsourcing water testing, including selecting an external laboratory provider with IANZ level 1 accreditation.

30 September 2024

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