Something IN THE WATER
In many areas of New Zealand, especially rural areas where water supplies come from groundwater, drinking water is high in nitrates. They originate from the urine and manure of stock, from septic tanks and from nitrogen fertilisers that leach through the soil into the aquifers below.
HOW DRINKING WATER CAN BE CONTAMINATED
Drinking water can be contaminated by biological pathogens, chemical agents, or both. Biological contamination is easy to understand: ‘germs’ such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Campylobacter, Salmonella and E. coli can be washed into drinking water supplies such as wells and rivers. Effects can range from mild tummy upsets or diarrhoea to death.
The Havelock North campylobacter outbreak in August 2016 was linked to three deaths and
