One of the more serious topics of discussion amongst delegates at the recent Water NZ Annual Conference was the outcomes of the Havelock North inquiry into their drinking water contamination.
The ramifications of the inquiry will go on for a long time yet, but there are still a number of changes that are needed to take effect immediately.
From a laboratory perspective, we have already received from IANZ an updated Supplementary Criteria for Ministry of Health Water Testing Laboratories which all laboratories will be required to follow.
The primary changes in the document are:
- Updated references to the Drinking-water On-line database
- Clarification as to which test methods require Ministry of Health approval
- Mandated proficiency testing including the numbers of rounds per year, and a new requirement to report ongoing performance issues to IANZ
- Reporting of results that transgress the MAV’s directly to the Drinking Water Assessors
- Requirements to inform IANZ promptly of any non-conforming work which is shown to either directly or indirectly have an effect on the validity of results produced by the laboratory
- Additional clarification with regard to effective separation of potable and non-potable samples in the laboratory
- Reference to IANZ’s obligations under the new Memorandum of Understanding
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There will be much more on this in the coming weeks, months and years but please contact us if you would like any further information
