9207 (2025). Lan Pham to the Minister for the Environment

Written Question
Published date: 19 Mar 2025
9207 (2025). Lan Pham to the Minister for the Environment: Does the Ministry keep data or estimates on the total volume of drinking water consumed annually, if so, what does the data show is the total volume consumed over the past 5 years, listed by year?
Hon Penny Simmonds: I am advised that the Ministry for the Environment does not keep data or estimates on the total volume of water taken for drinking water annually. The StatsNZ ‘consented freshwater takes’ indicator reports that 16.7 billion m3 of water was consented to be taken for the primary use of drinking water in the water reporting year 2017-18. You can find more information on the StatsNZ website at: https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/consented-freshwater-takes/.