Nitrate Dashboard online - new tool to inform the community

The Gore District Council has introduced a new Nitrate Dashboard to give our community an easy way to keep an eye on local water-testing results. The idea grew out of the nitrate spike that affected Gore’s drinking water supply back in July 2025.

During that event, people were regularly asking how they could see the test results for themselves.

Gore District Council’s 3 Waters Operations Manager, Aaron Green, said that with so much testing happening, it became clear the public needed a simple, accessible way to follow the results.

“So in response, I started working on a small project to get the information online without staff having to update it manually all the time,” he said.

Working alongside one of the Council’s compliance partners, they developed an automated system to make the lab results available to the public. Once the laboratory completes the testing and finalises the report, the results are sent straight to Water Outlook — the secure platform where all the Council’s compliance data is stored. From there, the new online dashboard pulls the information through and updates automatically on the Gore District Council website.

“This means the dashboard refreshes itself as soon as new results are available, which removes the chance of human error and lets people check the latest information, Mr Green said.

The dashboard page also includes a set of frequently asked questions about nitrates — a handy spot for anyone wanting the background as well as the numbers. You’ll find it on the Gore District Council website under Nitrate Dashboard and Information.

The dashboard was developed in-house by Council staff, which means there were no extra costs involved in creating this useful new tool for the community. With the dashboard now live — and with the two wells supplying Gore’s water now connected — residents should continue to see nitrate levels staying well below the Maximum Acceptable Value (MAV) of 11.3 mg/L, the limit set by Taumata Arowai the Water Services Authority.

See Nitrate Dashboard and Information - Gore District Council