The foam was used in training by defence staff at Base Woodbourne, in Marlborough, and Ohakea, in Manawatū.
Environment Minister David Parker said government agencies were investigating potential water contamination around Woodbourne and Ohakea air bases.
Parker said levels of two chemical compounds, PFOS and PFOA, found by the NZ Defence Force (NZDF), were above guidelines for groundwater at these sites.
"As a result, we wish to test the water of properties neighbouring the bases, to see if their water is contaminated," Parker said.
About 60 properties near the Ohakea air base, mostly dairy farms, could be affected by the contamination, a Ministry for the Environment spokesperson said.
The same foam had also been used at commercial airports.
The ministry was not aware of any having undertaken testing for contamination, but it would be talking to airport owners in the coming months.
Water for the farm comes from a bore on the property, but people do not drink from it, he said.
Rooney said the council was sampling its own water supplies to gather testing results, which would be completed in the New Year.
​The Defence Force hasn’t received new supplies of the foam since 2002.

(2) View gallery STAFF from a Glasgow-based charity water cooler firm travelled from Blantyre in Lanarkshire to Blantyre in Malawi to see how work is helping communities thrive.
Clare Miller and James Clelland from AquAid visited the African country to see how two Christian Aid’s projects, funded by AquAid, are supporting local people.
In a country where only two in three people have access to clean water, the projects help supply safe water for families to drink.
Dad-of-four James, who is a delivery driver with AquAid said: “I’m very grateful for the opportunity to visit Africa and to see for myself how these projects have helped provide safe drinking water and help farmers become self-sufficient and grow more drought resistant crops.
The 46-year-old added: “One of the highlight for me was visiting Blantyre in Malawi as I’m from Blantyre in Scotland.
"As coach of my 10-year-old son Mathew’s football team, Blantyre Boys Club, the club arranged for me to take some gifts such as football strips with the name of the town on the front, which went down really well.
"To see first-hand what the irrigation scheme and water pump has given to these local communities in Malawi is just amazing.
"They have a small plot of land each that they can grow vegetables to be sold and use for themselves.
"Having clean, safe water to drink and better access to water for their crops has made such a difference to them and their families."
The projects have helped more than 14,000 people to access the clean water they need to stay healthy and build better lives for themselves.

ONE of Africa’s biggest financial institutions, Ecobank Zimbabwe, has pulled all strings to ensure that some local schools have access to clean and safe drinking water as part of its corporate social responsibility.
The bank donated seven drinking water tanks to the City of Bulawayo-run Sigombe Primary School in Nkulumane suburb during its annual commemoration event last Saturday.
Ecobank has on-going charity projects at the school where it also runs a scholarship programme that pays school fees for 10 pupils.
The financial institution, which has branches in 36 countries on the continent, also gave a special gift to Chitungwiza Hospital where it sourced $4 000 that was used to purchase various medical sundries and sanitation supplies.
Another charitable footprint was at Mutoko’s Mother Peace Children’s Home, which received groceries and is also set to get a borehole.
Speaking during the handover of the water tanks at Sigombe, Ecobank Zimbabwe head of commercial banking, Mr Johnson Mahanya, said their water and sanitation initiative was an annual feat that celebrates the bank’s entrance on the African continent.
“Every year when we celebrate Ecobank Day we unleash various projects in three centres in Mutoko, Bulawayo and Chitungwiza.
He said the donation to Chitungwiza Hospital was meant to help the institution cope with high demands for medicine and manage the water problems it faces.
Parents and guardians at Sigombe Primary paid tribute to the bank.
Ecobank Zimbabwe’s clean water and sanitation initiative comes at a time when the Government has called upon the corporates to work hand in glove with communities to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

After over 10 years of struggle to get clean drinking water to their homes, the villagers of Wairiki in Bua have opted to do their own fundraising to fund their water project.
Tui Wairiki Akuila Turaganiqali said they knew they had to take the first step if they wanted something done.
A total of 24 families do not have access to safe drinking water.
He said the villagers have had enough years of struggle.
"It’s about time that we step out and do something that will benefit everyone in our village.
"We are currently getting our drinking, bathing and cooking water from the nearby Wairiki river that flows from the Nakoroba mountain and another water source that we have is located one kilometre away from the village, named the Namakuta water source."
Mr Turaganiqali said water from the water source in Namakuta could not cater for the whole village.
"It’s too low and we continue to struggle to get water," he said.
"The Wairiki river sometimes gets polluted during floods and also at times, the cows would be bathing in the same river which is very unhygienic."
Mr Turaganiqali said they had decided to do their own fundraising so they could have water pipes installed through their village.

More than a dozen boil-water notices are in effect across impacted areas.
Organizations are working to distribute water bottles to residents.
Thousands in Texas are still without access to safe drinking water three months after being devastated by Hurricane Harvey.
Heavy rain from the storm overflowed drainage districts and cut off water, prompting hundreds of boil-water notices across the Gulf Coast.
More than a dozen notices are still in effect across impacted areas.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality reports more than 3,700 people in those areas haven’t had clean drinking water since late August.
Running water returned to the city’s 600 residents in September, but it still requires a two-minute rolling boil before safe consumption.
Ratcliff said the city’s original goal was to have the notice rescinded for good by Thanksgiving.
"It’s crazy what they put us through," Ratcliff said.
Mayor Bonnie Stephenson said that faith-based organizations have been working to provide Rose City with enough bottled water.

In the latest step toward the effort by dentists and health officials to end San Jose’s status as the largest city in America without fluoride in its drinking water, Santa Clara County has contributed $1 million to add fluoride for the first time to drinking water from wells operated by the San Jose Water Company.
On Tuesday, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to spend $1,027,713 from the county general fund to help install fluoridation equipment on six new wells being constructed by San Jose Water Company for customers of East San Jose.
The Health Trust will contribute $694,757 toward the $1.7 million project — $180,900 came from the city of San Jose.
Hansen said the Health Trust will continue raising money to expand fluoride to other wells in the years ahead, a strategy supported by Santa Clara County Health Officer Sara Cody, the California Dental Association, Silicon Valley Leadership Group and others.
Overall, San Jose Water has 108 wells at 27 locations in Santa Clara County, and the six wells at the new site at McLaughlin Avenue will be the first to have fluoride added.
Studies by the Health Trust have concluded it would cost $23 million to connect fluoridation equipment to all 108 wells owned by San Jose Water, or $12 million for all the wells serving East San Jose.
Santa Clara County has set aside $4 million for fluoridation projects.
In 1964, San Jose voters approved adding fluoride to city water by a 59-41 percent margin.
Fluoridation advocates won a major victory in 2011 when the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the county’s water wholesaler, voted to add fluoride at its three drinking water treatment plants.
But people who receive groundwater from San Jose Water company have not had fluoride.

Water filter project improving health, supporting women’s leadership, and safeguarding environment Photos by Joel Lukhovi | Survival Media Agency Most people in the district of Gomba, Uganda, don’t have access to clean water.
Today almost 800 children have access to clean water; 45 women have been trained on how to build biosand filters in their schools and homes.
The schools are a big consumer of firewood, and so having the biosand filters helps us keep our trees.
To learn more about the Uganda Women’s Water Initiative project, scroll through the photos below.
“Now that the worry is lowered, we have time to concentrate on other activities that can generate more income for our families.
Before, the school boiled water for the children every day.
“It was mostly diarrhea or typhoid, and I would get sick at least once every term.” Using a second grant from Global Greengrants Fund, Uganda Women’s Water Initiative build a brick water tank at Bukandula Parents Primary School.
Not only does the soap reduce the spread of disease among the children, but the women also sell it for income.
The training from Uganda Women’s Water Initiative has taught us skills that have helped us get access to clean water, and my children’s health has improved.
My children are in better school; I can make more income.

In July, the Sun Post reported on Future Roots, a nonprofit started by Robbinsdale residents Jaime Belden and Elizabeth Dahl to provide education and training opportunities in impoverished Nicaraguan communities.
The two women have received support from all over their home communities for their efforts abroad, including from local service clubs, which have donated time and supplies.
Now, the Crystal-New Hope-Robbinsdale Rotary Club that has long been an ally of their cause has taken its own initiative to help people in need by distributing water filters in areas of Nicaragua where people lack clean drinking water.
The distribution project had been underway for about a year, and ended in October, with 304 filters provided to households and families in the municipalities of Diriomo, El Tunel and El Coyolar.
Copyright © 2017 at Sun Newspapers.
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According to water.org, over 500 children in India die every day due to lack of safe drinking water.
Parag tells us, “Every installation has a capacity of up to 15,000 litres per day and serves water chilled and at room temperature.
Specifically for water, India lags the US in accessibility and consistency of clean drinking water.” Affordable and safe “One litre of chilled water is priced at Rs 5.
This can be reduced drastically to as low as Re one per litre for dispensing volumes in multiples of 20 litres when it comes to serving communities living in urban slums and residential colonies.” To lower the price of the water further, Janajal has developed a cascading price model wherein users can receive 20 litres of water for Rs 20.
Parag tells us, “We installed five water ATMs in Khora colony in Ghaziabad where 20 litres of water is being made available at just Rs six, thanks to the support we received from Hans Foundation.” The social enterprise remotely monitors all the ATMs using cloud-based IT infrastructure.
Managing operations and growth JanaJal works with local administrative bodies and government agencies such as IRCTC.
Due to the diverse geographical variations of India, water quality changes rapidly across different parts of the country.
Impact JanaJal currently runs over 300 water ATMs that have been installed under various operating models.
The Government of India has identified this need and is making strides to improve the availability of safe drinking water, and we think JanaJal is a small part of the solution possible.
Too many people in India don’t have easy access to affordable and consistently clean and safe water.

Over 700,000 New Zealanders could be drinking unsafe water, a new report shows.
4pm – Hastings District Council ‘will read the report with interest’ Hastings District Council says the inquiry’s recommendations will be helpful.
Chief Executive Ross McLeod said Hastings District Council has responded to all the criticisms raised in the Stage 1 report.
"Since the outbreak there had continued to be reports of E.coli in water supplies throughout Hawke’s Bay.
This continuously puts at risk the health of those communities," Chief executive Kevin Snee said in a press release.
"Therefore, I was heartened to see the recommendation that – CEOs of DHBs (with Public health responsibilities) should advise drinking water suppliers that all supplies should be effectively treated pending any change to the law…" 3pm – ‘Major reform urgently needed’ Water New Zealand is calling on the Government to implement the recommendations made in the report.
2pm – The report is released The inquiry recommends a number of urgent measures, including asking the Director-General of Health to persuade suppliers not to rely on "current ‘secure’ bore water classifications".
"The inquiry found that 80 percent of residents have access to water which meets current standards.
The findings come from the second stage of a Government inquiry into the Havelock North water poisoning that saw 5,500 people become ill from drinking contaminated water.
The water was not disinfected with chlorine or UV treatment, so drinkers consumed the bacteria.