Increasing level of nitrate in Cantabrians drinking water - Greenpeace

Canterbury communities are seeing increasing levels of nitrate in their drinking water due to fertiliser and dairy, Greenpeace says.

Senior campaigner Steve Abel said access to clean drinking water is a human right everyone should have, no matter who you are or where you live.

He claimed the increase is associated with the increase of fertiliser over the past 30 years and tenfold, the rise in dairy cows on the Canterbury Plains.

"There's another association that can be linked to nitrate and that's wastewater from dairy factories because that has a high amount of nitrogen in it also, and so what we think may be part of the cause here is the wastewater from the local Waimate dairy factory."

However, the dairy factory - Oceania Dairy - is firmly against this, stating: "It's extremely disappointing that these claims could divert much needed attention away from the actual causes of elevated levels of nitrate in Canterbury's drinking water."

Abel said it's been known for a long time that risks of blue baby syndrome and bowl cancer can increase as a result of drinking too much nitrate water.

"We know there's health risks associated with nitrate and that's why we need to be careful with worsening contamination."

Greenpeace is offering free water testing for residents in Glenavy near Waimate today from 10am-4pm.

The organisation is also hosting a public meeting on nitrate contamination with public health researcher Tim Chambers tonight, who is from the University of Otago.

Chambers has published research on the issue, which estimates that nitrate contamination of drinking water could be causing up to 100 cases of bowel cancer a year in New Zealand, resulting in 40 deaths.

"More scientific work needs to be done to establish the specific cause and the contribution of any land use practice," Chambers has said.

The affected area is the Lower Waihao Rural Water Scheme just south of Waimate, and includes the small towns of Morven and Glenavy.

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Residents now rely on council tanks to source clean drinking water as nitrate levels in the scheme's water supply reached the maximum acceptable value. Residents have been using the tanks since September.

The system's dangerously high levels of nitrates was due to widespread flooding in July, the regional council said at the time.