Greenpeace Aotearoa is headed to Gore this November to provide free drinking water testing for nitrate contamination.
The organisation will be at the James Cumming Community Centre in Gore on Sunday, November 28th, from 1pm-5:30pm.
Greenpeace freshwater spokesperson Rhiannon Mackie says, “No matter who we vote for or where we live, we all want to be able to swim in the local river and drink the water out of our kitchen taps.”
“Access to clean, healthy water in New Zealand shouldn’t be a postcode lottery. But the sad truth is that regions like Southland and Canterbury are in crisis, thanks to unsafe levels of nitrate contaminating the drinking water supply.”
“A growing body of international evidence links exposure to nitrate contamination to an increased risk of bowel cancer and preterm birth, at levels much lower than the current New Zealand health limit.”
Up to 20,000 Southlanders could be exposed to unsafe levels of nitrate in their drinking water supply. While district councils test public water supplies for nitrate contamination, those on private bores are currently responsible for doing their own testing.
“Greenpeace offers free drinking water testing because no matter where you live, you should have access to clean drinking water, and we believe that people have a right to know if what’s coming out of their tap could be putting their health at risk,” says Mackie.
“It’s unacceptable that so many in New Zealand – mostly in rural areas – are being exposed to this contamination, and we need to stop the pollution at the source.
“That means cleaning up agricultural practices, by transitioning away from synthetic nitrogen fertiliser-intensive dairying, and moving towards ecological, regenerative farming.”
To get their water tested, people should bring 200mls of their tap water in a clean container, and Greenpeace scientists will test it for them while they wait. The whole process takes approximately fifteen minutes.
More details about Greenpeace’s free water testing programme can be found here.
