Ensure healthy water for all

Everyone should be able to trust that the water from their tap is safe to drink.

But synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and intensive dairying is causing alarmingly high levels of nitrate contamination in our drinking water - endangering people’s health.

Scientists warn that nitrate in drinking water could be causing 100 cases of bowel cancer and 40 deaths per year in New Zealand. Rural communities on bore water are the most at risk.

Access to safe drinking water is a basic human right. The Government must stand up for the health of our communities and regulate big polluters like the fertiliser companies Ravensdown and Ballance by phasing out synthetic fertiliser use.

The current limit for nitrate in drinking water is 13 times higher than the amount linked to increased risk of bowel cancer and more than double the amount linked to preterm birth.*

For the health of our people and our rivers, join us to call on the Government to lower the legal limit of nitrate in drinking water to under 1 mg/L.

*The current legal nitrate limit in New Zealand's drinking water is 11.3mg/L (NO3-N) but a Danish study has shown a significant increase in bowel cancer risk from nitrate in drinking water at 0.87mg/L and a US Study found increased risk of preterm birth above 5 mg/L. Greenpeace is calling on the Government to lower the legal limit of nitrate in our drinking water to a under 1 mg/L (NO3-N)