NitrateWatch: Helping communities look after their drinking water
Waikato Regional Council is partnering with GNS Science at Fieldays 2023 to support NitrateWatch – an initiative that offers free water sample testing for nitrate from rural springs or bores.
Bring along a 100ml sample of water from your rural drinking water bore or spring in a clean jar and GNS experts will test it while you wait at our Fieldays stand. Or, you can come and have a chat with the GNS scientists and pick up a free mail-in nitrate testing kit.
Recent data published by GNS Scientist, Dr Karyne Rogers, and her team on nitrates across New Zealand showed that from 1000 surface water and groundwater samples collected between 2010 and 2020, more than 60% exceeded nitrate baseline levels (> 0.9 mg/L NO3-N, Figure 1)¹.
In response to this recent information, GNS Science is undertaking a community-driven study called NitrateWatch² to seek new insights into these worrying trends. NitrateWatch is particularly interested in testing drinking water from rural community supplies and private bores.
GNS Science is offering free, confidential nitrate testing of any rural drinking water bore or spring across New Zealand in the coming year. This initiative, combined with longer-term regional monitoring by the National Ground Water Monitoring programme, will integrate seasonal, climatic and spatial specifics to improve our knowledge around which regions need urgent assistance to reduce nitrate contamination in the future.
Unless we understand and reduce the level of nitrates in freshwater, New Zealand’s groundwater and surface water resources will become increasingly impacted by urbanisation, farming, horticulture, and climate change in the future.
“The NitrateWatch programme is a great opportunity for people to find out what is coming out of their tap,” says Waikato Regional Council’s Water Science Team Leader, Thomas Wilding.
The GNS team have already reported back to landowners of rural bores from across Northland, as part of a pilot study which began last July².
GNS Science is partnering with Waikato Regional Council to offer free confidential testing of drinking water at Fieldays 2023.
Recommended by LinkedIn
Bring a 100ml sample of water from your drinking water bore or spring in a clean jar and GNS experts will test it while you wait at our Fieldays stand. Or, you can come and have a chat with the GNS scientists and pick up a free mail-in nitrate testing kit. You can find us inside The Pavilion at site PE 36/38.
“The NitrateWatch programme is a great opportunity for people to find out what is coming out of their tap,” says Waikato Regional Council’s Water Science Team Leader, Thomas Wilding.
“The monitoring by Waikato Regional Council helps understand water quality of groundwater aquifers, as a whole. But the best representation of the water you drink is a sample from your tap. Your bore could be drawing from a unique layer of the aquifer, or closer to a different recharge area. Your individual results won’t be shared with us, but we look forward to seeing any general patterns that GNS highlight.”
Learn more here ➡️ NitrateWatch - GNS Science | Te Pῡ Ao
¹ Rogers, K.M., van der Raaij, R., Phillips, A., Stewart M.K. 2023. A national isotope survey to define New Zealand’s nitrate contamination sources. Journal of Hydrology, doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.129131
Project Manager/ Development
1yGreat initiative Waikato Regional Council
Awesome to see this initiative coming to Fieldays this year.