Newly released data from StatsNZ, taken between 2019 and 2024, has revealed a growing crisis. Almost half of New Zealand’s monitored groundwater sites have shown contamination levels that exceed national health standards. The findings raise several concerns about the safety of New Zealand’s drinking water, particularly in rural communities.

StatsNZ's data shows particularly high levels of both, E. coli and Nitrate, both have been linked to serious health risks, with Nitrate contamination being linked to certain cancers and preterm births.

This comes just weeks after the government proposed changes that would further roll back freshwater protections.

To talk about the latest StatsNZ report, Producer Max spoke to Will Appelbe, a freshwater campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa, to discuss what these figures mean and why he believes the government is putting public health at risk.