Strategies to stop the degradation of waterways and improve drinking water quality, a US-New Zealand collaboration aims to improve water quality and make advances in water treatment options.  The Havelock North water crisis spotlighted what can happen when drinking water quality is insecure. The campylobacter contamination affected the town’s drinking-water supply, causing thousands of people to become violently ill, and it was linked to three deaths. Dr Lokesh Padhye is from the University of Auckland’s environmental engineering division, and from the department of chemical engineering at MIT in Massachusetts, Professor Alan Hatton.