“Access to safe water is a fundamental human need and, therefore, a basic human right. Contaminated water jeopardises both the physical and social health of all people.”
– Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General.
Everyone should have access to clean and safe drinking water. No one should get sick, let alone risk developing cancer, because the water from their kitchen tap is contaminated.
But right now in Aotearoa, people are getting sick from their drinking water. The increase in intensive livestock farming, in particular dairying, and the synthetic fertiliser that fuels it, is contaminating our water with pathogens and nitrates.
Instead of protecting drinking water, in Taumata Arowai the Government is proposing an increase of highly toxic substances in drinking water.
The proposals also do nothing about nitrate, despite it being the most widespread contaminant found in our water and is linked to acute and chronic illness. The biggest sources of nitrate contamination into Aotearoa’s water is urine from dairy cows, urine from sheep, and synthetic nitrogen fertiliser. The largest sources of pathogens in our water are grazing livestock.
Nitrate in drinking water at levels far below the current 11.3mg/L limit is linked to increased risks of colorectal cancer and preterm birth. Scientists warn that 100 cases of colorectal cancer and 40 deaths per year in New Zealand could be attributed to nitrate in drinking water. US scientists found that there was nearly a 50% increase in risk of preterm birth for pregnant people drinking water with nitrate concentrations above 5 mg/L. We must act to protect our drinking water – Here is the Greenpeace submission, urging the Government to protect drinking water for all of us.
Call on the Government to lower the limit for nitrates in drinking water to safe levels
