The organisation has announced it will be testing drinking water in Gore — where nitrate levels in the town water supply escalated rapidly over the weekend — and in Waimate as well as Darfield in Canterbury.
Both Waimate and Gore have been put under "do not drink" notices in the last year due to unsafe levels of nitrate in the public water supply.
"In the wake of Environment Canterbury’s recently declared ‘nitrate emergency’ and dairy conversions restarting en masse, the issue of drinking water pollution has captured the attention of people across the South Island," Greenpeace spokesperson Will Appelbe said.
"Everyone, no matter where they live, should be able to safely drink the water coming out of their kitchen tap.
"But right now, many in rural communities aren’t able to do so without risking their health, and still more are in the dark about potential nitrate contamination in their drinking water.
"Communities are concerned about the quality of their drinking water and Greenpeace aims to empower them to take action as needed."
Greenpeace was running these free testing events so that everyone, no matter where they lived, could know whether their water was safe to drink, Mr Appelbe said.
"Those most at risk of nitrate-contaminated drinking water are those in rural communities, where there is a high concentration of dairying — as the intensive dairy industry and synthetic nitrogen fertiliser are the main drivers of nitrate contamination.
"Those on private bores — who currently bear both the responsibility of testing their drinking water and the cost of removing contamination if there is any — are more at risk than those on town supplies, but we test both private bore and town water."
Details of the Waimate testing event are to be confirmed but it will take place on Sunday, November 22.
— Allied Media
