This week’s roundup covers a new boil water alert in north-western New South Wales, an update from New Zealand’s drinking water regulator on the persistence of boil water and do-not-drink advisories, and three notices issued by Uisce Éireann in Ireland, including a do-not-consume notice linked to elevated aluminium. Australia & New Zealand Guideline & regulatory updates Taumata Arowai highlights the scale of boil water and do-not-drink advisories in New Zealand On 6 October 2

This week's roundup covers a regulatory direction to chlorinate a small New Zealand supply, a short boil water alert at Fairbairn Dam in central Queensland, WHO's latest global cholera figures, and lead action level exceedances in Alaska linked to a change in source water. Australia & New Zealand Guideline & regulatory updates Taumata Arowai directs Ōpaki supply to chlorinate after repeated E. coli detections Following the Boil Water Notice covered in last week's roundup, on

Continuous monitoring at critical control points is expected to catch treatment failures before they reach the consumer, and to provide the evidence that it did. Two failure modes are quietly undermining that, one at each end of the Australian water sector.

No monitoring program can see everything, but it needs to see enough to manage the risks. Climate change keeps moving the goalposts.

This week's roundup covers a precautionary boil water alert in Boulia, Queensland, disinfectant-related taste and odour complaints in south-west Sydney, continuing barium issues at Bulla in the Northern Territory, New Zealand's latest national drinking water regulation report and a Wairarapa boil water notice, and a short-lived E. coli advisory in the United States. Australia & New Zealand Guideline & regulatory updates Taumata Arowai reports gains in protozoal treatment, but

“We rely on the multi-barrier approach” used to be a sufficient explanation in many discussions around drinking water safety. Under ADWG Chapter 5, it’s now the start of the conversation, not the end.

National Water Reform 2026 Inquiry Timeline The Productivity Commission has been tasked with its fourth national water reform inquiry, with a final report due to the Treasurer by 4 September 2026. The inquiry will assess the National Water initiative (NWI) progress and inform a refresh of national water pricing and economic regulation guidance. On 27 March 2026, the Albanese Government announced that the Productivity Commission (PC) would lead a new national water inquiry foc

Relative PFAS concentrations across consumer and industrial product categories compared to biosolids and the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. Source: Water Services Association of Australia, PFAS and the Water Sector fact sheet (2025) In the span of five months around mid-2025, every major layer of Australia’s PFAS regulatory framework moved—the compliance burden for utilities now more than ever is system mapping rather than addressing any one layer in isolation. Conside