We provide water because clean, safe drinking water is essential for the health and wellbeing of any community. Our focus is on improving the water quality through water treatment plant upgrades to comply with New Zealand Drinking Water Standards (2008) (as required by the Health Act 1956), and ensure we are complying with our resource consents.

We currently own and operate eight water supply schemes in the district - two medium supplies in Matamata and Morrinsville, two minor supplies in Te Aroha and Waharoa and four small schemes in Te Poi, Tahuna, Hinuera and Te Aroha West. Each area has a treatment plant, and the district has a total of 325 kilometres of pipes.

We provide water 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which means we operate and maintain equipment, machinery and backup facilities, and train staff to respond rapidly in the event of a problem.

We started upgrading water supplies and treatment facilities in 2009, aiming to comply with the New Zealand Drinking Water Standards (2008) with deadlines which vary from 2013 to 2015, depending on the size of the community being served.

We have corrective and preventative maintenance programmes in place to ensure our systems remain in good condition. We also monitor the lifecycles of our assets (such as water mains) and renew them when necessary – this provides opportunities to improve our network and address issues like low water pressure in some areas.

Risk assessment and risk management is extremely important for Water, as clean water is essential during emergencies (such as major earthquakes). We have prepared emergency plans for droughts, power outages, volcanic ash fallout and civil defence emergencies.