Most drinking water in New Zealand is plumbosolvent. This means the water can dissolve small amounts of metals it may encounter, such as lead and copper in your plumbing fittings (like pipes and taps). Drinking water with high levels of heavy metal is a health concern.

Drinking water suppliers have a duty to ensure that the water they supply to you complies with the Drinking Water Standards, which sets maximum levels for metals in water. However, drinking water suppliers are only responsible for drinking water quality up to the point of supply, which is normally the toby outside of your property.

There may be metals in the plumbing within your property such as in the taps or other fixtures, which can have an impact after the water has been supplied. Newer, better-quality fittings are likely to contain less harmful metals.

We recommend:

• When you first turn on your tap in the morning, or after you've been away a while, run your tap to fill a large cup of water.
• Tip the cup of water down the sink.

This will help remove metals that might have been dissolved or absorbed from your plumbing fittings. Flushing your drinking water taps is recommended for all households, whether on public or private water supplies.

Other places – including commercial businesses, community buildings, and schools – should also have systems in place to ensure that drinking water taps are regularly flushed, particularly after periods of not using them like after the weekend and school holidays.