Source: Green Party
The Green Party has released data showing 9000 students across more than 70 schools and pre-schools faced unsafe drinking water in 2025, with water breaching safe Drinking Water Standards at some point during the year.
“No child should face a health risk from the water coming out of a drinking fountain at their school. The data paints a troubling picture of the state of drinking water in Aotearoa,” says Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson.
“While many of these schools had treatment systems in place, for whatever reason the treatment has failed.”
“Drinking water standards set safe limits for things like bacteria, chemicals, and other contaminants in drinking water, which must be met at all points in a water system after treatment.”
“When a school’s water is found to be unsafe, drinking fountains are shut down, children are told to bring water bottles from home, and in serious cases schools may have to close. Children should be focused on learning not worrying about whether their water is safe.”
According to the Minister of Education, no additional treatment barriers were installed at any of the schools in 2025 and there is no estimate of the cost to bring drinking water treatment facilities at those schools where ‘do not drink’ notices were issued in 2025 up to a standard where water is safe and reliable.
“Schools should have all the resources they need to provide safe drinking water. Instead, the Government installed no new treatment systems at any of these schools in 2025 and cannot even tell us what it would cost to fix the problem.”
The data follows an earlier 2024 report by Taumata Arowai which found a “stubbornly high” 71 schools reported at least one incidence of E. coli in their drinking water that year, meaning faecal contamination was present.
“The data reinforces why the protection of drinking water at its source, in rivers, lakes, and groundwater, must be a priority.”
“Almost all New Zealanders get their drinking water from a river, lake, or underground aquifer. If we protect those sources from pollution, we can be far more confident that what comes out of the tap is safe, even when something goes wrong at a treatment plant.”
“Keeping source water clean also avoids the enormous cost of removing contaminants like nitrate and sediment, which are extremely difficult and expensive to treat, particularly for smaller towns and communities.”
Green Party environment spokesperson Lan Pham has called for the Government to learn the lessons of the Havelock North Drinking Water Inquiry.
“The Havelock North Drinking Water Inquiry was clear that source protection should be treated as a matter of national importance in resource management law,” said Pham.
“The Inquiry found that protecting the source of drinking water provides the first and most significant barrier against contamination and illness.”
“Despite those recommendations, the Government’s resource management overhaul only requires decision-makers to ‘have regard to’ effects on drinking water quality. That falls well short of what the Inquiry called for.”
“If this Government were serious about keeping our water safe, they would be enshrining source protection in law.”
In answers to written questions, the Minister of Education confirmed she was not aware of ‘Do Not Drink’ notices that had been issued at schools in 2025, had received no advice on water quality at the affected schools, had no estimate of the cost to fix the issue, and had not corresponded with the Ministers for Local Government or Health about the matter.
“The Minister is treating this as someone else’s problem. Parents sending their kids to school have a right to expect that the water is safe. They deserve a Government that takes that seriously,” says Davidson.
