Access to safe and fluoridated drinking water reports updated
We have updated two core indicators in our drinking water quality surveillance suite.
Key facts
- In 2024, about 4.5 million New Zealanders (83.5% of the population) received water from registered drinking water sources. Only 3.8 million (70.9% of the population) received water that met all three core barrier treatments necessary for safe water.
- The most common substances to exceed the limits for acceptable levels of contaminants in drinking water were ‘byproducts of the disinfection process’, followed by aluminium, arsenic, lead and chlorine. It is not possible to accurately quantify the number of people potentially exposed due to data availability issues.
Access to fluoridated drinking water
Key facts
- According to data held by the Water Services Authority, 58.1% of the New Zealanders on registered drinking water supplies (about 2.6 million people) had access to fluoridated water as of September 2025.
- After adjusting for recent fluoridation changes not yet reported by the Water Services Authority, this total may be up to 66.7%, or around 3.0 million people.
- About 16.6% of the South Island population on registered supplies have access to fluoridated drinking water (21.2% after adjusting for recent fluoridation changes). This compares with 72.1% of the North Island population (81.8% after adjustment). The low figures in the South Island are due to large population centres (such as Christchurch and Queenstown) remaining unfluoridated.