Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Steve Taylor: Water Services Authority Head of Operations on the slightly higher levels of arsenic in the Waikato river

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Steve Taylor: Water Services Authority Head of Operations on the slightly higher levels of arsenic in the Waikato river · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The Water Services Authority has been notified of increase levels
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: of arsenic in the Waikato River, which feeds into the
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Auckland and Hamilton water supply. The agency says there is
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: no health risk in drinking the water, but the maximum
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: acceptable value for arsenic is zero point zero one milligrams elater,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: an incredibly low amount apparently, but they have seen levels
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: between zero points zero one one milligram and zero point
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: zero one five milligrams, which is quote marginally above the
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: acceptable value for drinking water. Steve Taylor is the head
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: of operations at Water Services Authority, needs with us this morning. Steve,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: good morning, welcome to the show. Have you had any
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: new results in overnight since since you last spoke?
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: No, I haven't. There's been a number of samples that
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: were taken, yes, just to can fill what those levels
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: are in fact that there's been any decrease as a
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: result of the actions that water Care has taken over
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: the last few hours. That are expecting those results this morning?
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: What time this morning?
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Well, I have to check of the laboratory, but I
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: understand they've been prioritized with haste, so we'd expect setos
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: sons are available.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: How can you say that it's safe to drink even
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: though it's above the acceptable value for drinking?
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Yes, acceptable value for a drinking water is designed for
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: long term exposure. So in other words, that someone was
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: drinking amount of water over forty fifty years, and we
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: might expect to see some health effects. That's up here
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: after forty or fifty years. So prolonged extensive drinking at
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: levels above and makes them acceptable value. What we've got
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: here is a marginal increase above acceptable value that would
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: expect to see reduced overcoming days.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: When did you so, how long is it? When did
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: you first find out about the result.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: So we found out about these results yesterday yesterday morning.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: Bear in mind that the Whitecatta River naturally has underlying
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: levels of arsenic inner and the treatment plants for both
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: Auckland City and Hamilton City do that arsenic. So they
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: removed the arsenic before it's put into the drinking water.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: That's an important part of their treatment. And we know
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: from what these activities. Immediately after receiving these notifications, they
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: are changing their treatment process to extally ensure the increased
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: levels of the arsenic areagely removed from the water.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: So did both you as a regulator and water Care
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: both only found out about this yesterday.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: Yes, that's great, but because Hamilton.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: City Council said that they testing during a stage of
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: the treatment process on the nineteenth and twentieth of November
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: recorded results that were elevated.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: Yes, so we're aware that results within the river itself,
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: so this is before the point of treatment and vary.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: So we were notified. I'm just not data today Thursday,
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: on Thursday morning at the levels within the point network
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: in Hamilton or above the acceptable value and at that
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: point that's when we've requested ongoing action.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: You've so you found out actually a week ago that
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: there were elevated levels of arsenic in the river and.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: You are saying that we were notified on the twenty seventh,
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: so that's the last night.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: Sorry, So why is it so Hamilton City Council noted
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: that they had elevated levels on the nineteenth and twentieth
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: of November.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: That's a week ago, right, So why weren't you told?
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: I can't comment on that. We'd expect to be notified
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: with any increase and levels above the math and there's
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: a requirement that we are notified of those results.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Okay, So if you weren't, what do you do about it?
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: And so I'll be flying up with Hamilton to check
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: what the results were the tilling of those results. Again,
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: if it's a spike in the source water, we should
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: have been notified about that. It's possible that that was
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: an issue that's been managed through as part of their
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: treatment process. But again it's important that we do receive
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: notice of these results so that we can ensure that
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: supplies are actually taking the appropriate action.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: When you say how when you say water Care is
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: changing or rejigging the way that it processes the water,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: what exactly does that mean and why aren't we doing
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: that already?
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah? So what it Care has got the ability as
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: part of its natural treatment of water to turn it
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: on different treatment plants as part of its day to
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  Speaker 2: day operations, So it has the ability it can reduce
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: the intake from its white cat A treatment and increase
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: the amount of that's being supplied from its dams and
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: other sources. So it's switched out process on And what
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: it means is the water that is coming through the
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: way Kato treatment plan has slowed down, which means the
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: ability for those folds to remove the arts increase of
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: so the slow the water moves through those filters, the
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: more efficient the process is.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: All right, Steve, you can guarantee as one hundred percent
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: there will be no ill health effects from this, nothing
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: for pregnant women, nothing for the elderly, nothing like that.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: So we're confident that these levels are safe to drink,
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  Speaker 2: but would expect both Hamilton and water Care to be
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: acting proactively just to reduce any risk.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: Steve, thanks for your time this morning. Steve Taylor, head
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: of operations at the Water Services Authority.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: For more from earlier edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: to News Talks. It'd be from five am weekdays, or
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: follow the podcast on iHeartRadio