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How Auckland’s Safeswim Program Keeps Beachgoers Safe Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position. Nick Vigar: I have a background in both biological and physical sciences. I’ve worked in the field of storm water quality and quantity management for the last 15 years. Municipal Water Leader: For U.S. readers who may only know Auckland as a name on a map, would you give some information about the size of the city and its geographical setting? Nick Vigar: Auckland is in the upper North Island of New Zealand. It is the country’s largest city and is constantly growing. With the city situated between three large harbors, Waitematā, Manukau, and Kaipara, Aucklanders have a large number of beaches to enjoy during the summer. Municipal Water Leader: When was the Auckland Safeswim program founded and why? What is the basic purpose of the program? Nick Vigar: The revised Safeswim program was created in 2017 and launched in November 2018. The purpose of Safeswim is to provide advice on beach conditions and potential hazards to help Aucklanders make informed decisions about when and where to swim. The website provides real-time data on the performance of the wastewater and storm water networks; forecasts of water quality; and up-to-the-minute advice on tides, weather, wind, and temperatures at over 100 sites in the Auckland region. Municipal Water Leader: Why were people getting sick from swimming at beaches near Auckland? What were the major drivers of unsafe or dirty conditions? One of the digital signs located at 11 of the main Auckland-area beaches, displaying information on water quality and beach conditions and hazards.
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34 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER | January 2021
municipalwaterleader.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF SAFESWIM.
he municipal government of the city of Auckland, New Zealand, has created a program to easily present up-todate information on water quality and hazards at local beaches to the public. The Safeswim program uses regular testing, real-time data on the performance of wastewater and storm water infrastructure, and data modeling to generate its recommendations. Meanwhile, Auckland Council and its water utility are 3 years into a 10‑year infrastructure program to reduce the occurrence of wastewater overflows. In this interview, Safeswim Program Manager Nick Vigar tells Municipal Water Leader about how the program functions and the benefits it brings Aucklanders.
Nick Vigar: There is little direct evidence of illness associated with swimming around Auckland. The illnesses that you are most likely to catch from fecal contamination include gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses, which may occur days or weeks after exposure. However, epidemiological studies do enable us to approximately establish the public health risk associated with particular bacterial indicators. We follow New Zealand government guidance in this regard. There is a higher risk of poor water quality at our beaches after rain, especially in areas served by aging network infrastructure in the city center and aging onsite septic systems on properties at the edge of the city or in rural areas. Rainfall after long spells of dry weather can carry a first flush of dirty water to our beaches—including water contaminated
