Brightwater is a town southwest of Nelson in Tasman district in the South Island of New Zealand. It stands on the banks of the Wairoa River. Brightwater was first named Spring Grove. Alfred Saunders, the owner of a local flax mill situated on the banks of the Wairoa River and a prominent temperance activist, renamed it Brightwater because of the clarity of the water in Wairoa River. The settlement was named in 1855, but the area was settled as early as 1843. Brightwater was the birthplace of Nobel Prize-winning scientist, the "father of nuclear physics", Sir Ernest Rutherford, and has an elaborate Lord Rutherford Birthplace memorial on Lord Rutherford Road.
Population
Brightwater had a population of 1,745 at the time of the 2013 census, a decrease of 45 people since the 2006 census.
Education
The town of Brightwater has one primary school, Brightwater School. This decile 9 school opened in 1888, and provides for children in years one though six, and it had 278 pupils, in 2010. Brightwater School is located on the main street of the village. The school is made up of six buildings: three blocks of three classrooms; a block of two classrooms; a reception area and library; a dental clinic and a reading recovery building; a sports / gear shed; and a boiler house. The school also includes two sports fields, two playgrounds, a hardcourt area, a large shade structure, an adventure playground, a swimming pool and dressing sheds.
Businesses
Brightwater is mainly an agricultural town. Because of its climate of little rain, it is hot from October through March, and it commonly experiences frosts during the winter. The main agriculture of the area is wine growing. The Kaimira Ventures Winery lies just outside the town. In about 1850 a flour mill was built near the present winery site. The singing of the mill owner, which included the refrain "Bright water, bright water, bright water for me", is alleged to have been the origin of the town's name. The mill was later converted into a hydro-electric power station, the second in New Zealand. The town had five street-lights installed, together with another ten in the neighbouring town of Richmond. The lighting was switched on and off by a device linked to a chicken perch - as the chickens went to roost in the evenings the lights were turned on, and when the chickens left their roost in the mornings the lights were switched off again.
