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Wellington’s
water PREDICAMENT
I
have been ringing warning bells about the water situation in the
Wellington region but it has all been following on deaf ears that are
determined to avoid the real nature of the problem.
When
I moved to Wellington 30 years ago – and when Imoved to Lower Hutt
10 years ago – I could never have imagined in my worst dreams that
Wellington, of all places, would have problems with water.
But
there we are.
That’s
what you get with unacknowledged abrupt climate change and terrible
decisions by policymakers who are determined not to hear the truth
and follow policies that have more to do with keeping the ponzi
scheme (otherwise known as ‘the economy’) going and giving work
to their contractor friends.
It
is a microcosm of what is happening everywhere and is a predicament
by any definition.
Listen
to the conversation recorded 2 years ago. Nothing has changed very
much but it has got worse.
The following are some articles that point to the magnitude of the problem.
27
June, 2017
A
drill to tap 70 metres below the sea floor of Wellington Harbour has
been set off to help right the wrong that Wellington is just one of
two New Zealand cities without its own local water supplies.
Along
with Porirua, the capital has been given $6 million of Government
funding to fix the problem, which would give people more certainty of
water after a big quake.
Most
of the city's water is carried by pipes along the Hutt Rd, crossing
an identified fault line. Should they be severely damaged, the
capital could face weeks without water.
Hopes
of finding an emergency drinking water supply beneath Wellington
Harbour have been dealt a blow, with the first source turning out to
be too contaminated.
5
December, 2017
When
two aquifers were found during drilling in August, the discovery was
hailed as a potential lifesaver for the city, in the event of piped
water supplies being cut off by a big earthquake.
The
majority of the city's water is supplied via a pipe running along
State Highway 2, which lies right on a faultline.
An
artist's impression of what a community water station would look
like. A total of 22 of them would operate across Wellington, Porirua
and the Hutt Valley.
If
this line were severed, it is predicted the city and eastern suburbs
could be without water for up to 100 days.
Wellington
Water believed at first that supplies found in an aquifer 800 metres
off Miramar Peninsula could be treated to counteract the presence of
manganese, iron and ammonia.
Howver,
on Tuesday, project director Ulvi Salayev told city councillors
that, after completing the bore, the water was more contaminated than
first thought, and would be too costly to treat.
Wellington
Water would now try a second bore, on an aquifer closer to
Matiu/Somes Island, he said.
"We
are hoping for better water, with less treatment and less costs."
He
expected the bore programme would be completed by June next year.
Wellington
has only enough reserves to supply the city for 19 hours at normal
usage.
The
bores are one solution to the water supply vulnerability. Another
includes the creation of a cross-harbour pipeline, which is the least
preferred option because it would be a lot more expensive and run
over a faultline.
As
well as drilling in the harbour, 11 land-based bores are being
drilled, and 11 stream-fed emergency water hubs established around
the region.
On
Thursday, city councillors will vote on approving the installation of
community water stations at parks in Linden, Glenside, Johnsonville,
Nairnville, Khandallah and Wrights Hill Reserve, subject to public
consultation. The areas concerned will also include a small part of
the Town Belt within the Berhampore nursery.
The
stations, which are a $12 million joint venture between Wellington
Water and the Government, would start operating after day eight
without a water supply, and would be the main source of water until
any damaged pipes were repaired.
They
would be among 22 such stations that Wellington Water would operate
in the Wellington region, Porirua and the Hutt Valley.
The
stations are part of a community infrastructure resilience project
that also includes building and upgrading reservoirs, establishing
local distribution points for emergency drinking water bladders,
subsurface water exploration, and the evaluation of desalination
treatment.
This
is a description of Wellington’s problems at the beginning
of summer.
Wellington water woes 'unheard of' this time of year
The Wellington region's emergency water supply has already been tapped into, as rivers dry out in an unusually warm and dry start to summer.
Wellington Water said just over 6 percent of the water stored in the Te Marua storage lakes had been used to top up the region's regular supply.
Community engagement manager Alex van Passen said it was important the water in the storage lakes lasted all summer.
"What's been really unusual about this summer so far is it's just so early for us to have been tapping into our lake supply, it's just unheard of really for us to be using lake water to supplement that river and aquifer supply in November."
Mr van Passen said water use had dropped to 161 million litres a day, and if it stayed at that level, the lakes should last until the end of summer.
He said during the Christmas holiday period water demand usually dropped off, and some ground could be gained supply-wise during that time.
But he said restrictions on water use were expected to stay in place.
Wellington Water's manager of treatment plant operations Jeremy McKibbin said there had been a drop in water usage on Friday.
He said if people continued to be careful with their water there was no reason there would be a total ban on using water outdoors.
A sprinkler ban was put in place in the past week, but people could still water their gardens with a hose.
We
have toxic algal blooms in the first days of summer
Swimmers told to avoid Hutt River after discovery of 'potentially fatal' toxic algae
It is looking grim for the Hutt River over summer with swimmers, particularly young children, being told to stay out of the water to avoid contact with potentially fatal toxic algae.
JIM
CHIPP
Toxic
algae blooms have become more common concern for the Hutt River in
recent years.
29 November, 2017
Greater
Wellington Regional Council and Regional Public Health say people
and animals should avoid the Hutt River between Kaitoke Regional
Park and where the river mouth meets Wellington Harbour, until
further notice.
Greater
Wellington environmental scientist Mark Heath a recent run of the
warm, dry weather across the region was to blame for the sudden
algal bloom.
Swimmers
are being advised to stay out of the Hutt River to avoid a lethal
dose of toxic algae. (FILE PHOTO)
"This
means pieces of algae are breaking off rocks and floating downriver
in much larger quantities than usual, and this has become a risk to
swimmers as well as dogs," he said.
"Even
very small amounts of toxic algae, if swallowed, can cause serious
illness and - although unlikely - can potentially be fatal."
This
week, the council had seen a sudden increase in the number of
algal mats floating down the river. Without rain, this is likely to
get worse, Heath said.
"So
the chance of accidentally swallowing an algal mat is much higher
than usual, and we think this justifies a warning to stay out of the
river."
Jill
McKenzie, of Regional Public Health, said the most common
symptoms of algal poisoning were nausea, vomiting, numbness,
tingling, muscle twitches, shaking, weakness, breathing
difficulties and potentially convulsions and loss of
consciousness.
"These
symptoms would usually occur soon after exposure," she said. "If
you are concerned about potential health risks, consult your doctor."
Heath
said toxic algae gave off an earthy/musty smell that
attracted dogs.
"It
usually gets caught up in rocks on the river bank so, with the volume
of algae we are seeing, we encourage owners to keep their dogs safe
on a lead and well away from the water."
Separately,
Lower Hutt residents are being told their water is safe to drink,
despite an "earthy" taste.
Wellington
Water emphasised there was no link between the taste of the water and
the algal mats. "We collect water from the Hutt River above the
point where toxic algae has been collected," a spokesman said.
It
said it had identified the cause of the bad taste, but was still
using the water because of high demand caused by the warmer weather.
Residents
are being told to cool tap water in a jug for 30 minutes to improve
the taste.
“Available
water only outstripped usage by two million litres, and that was with
the region already drawing heavily from emergency lake supplies that
would normally remain untapped until late January”
More
water restrictions likely in Wellington as emergency reserves are
drained
Wellington's water crisis is deepening despite usage dropping with the rollout of a sprinkler ban, and more restrictions are likely sooner rather than later.
1
December, 2017
On
Friday, available water only outstripped usage by two million litres,
and that was with the region already drawing heavily from emergency
lake supplies that would normally remain untapped until late January.
On
first day of summer, seven per cent of the water in the
lakes at Te Marua, north of Upper Hutt, had been drawn
away.
KEVIN
STENT/STUFF
The
Hutt River - a major source of Wellington's drinking water - is
extremely low for this time of year.
Wellington
Water treatment plants manager Jeremy McKibbin said daily usage had
fallen from 182 million litres to 173 million litres since
restrictions on sprinklers were imposed on Wednesday night.
But
the total amount of water available had also fallen from 185
million litres to 175 million litres, leaving only a minimal buffer.
ROSS
GIBLIN\STUFF
The
first day of summer saw Wellington's Oriental Bay Beach packed with
sun-seekers during a prolonged spell of fine weather.
Target
usage sat at 160 million litres per day for the region, and
McKibbin urged residents to stick to the restrictions.
"Every
drop we take out of the lakes is a drop we don't have at the end of
summer when we really need it. It is relatively serious."
In
23 years working on Wellington's water supply McKibbin said he
hadn't seen water levels so low in November, or restrictions come
into forced this early in the year.
"Unless
we do see some reduction in demand we may have to move to some more
serious outdoor use bans sooner rather than later. I'm hoping we get
a good enough response from the public that we don't have to do
that."
A
total ban on outdoor water use, including restrictions on washing
cars and buildings, could be a possibility.
Some
areas had been cohering the existing bans more stringently than
others, with residents in the Lower Hutt suburb of Eastbourne seeming
to be the worst offenders for ignoring sprinkler restrictions
– indicated by the number of residents dobbing in their
neighbours and continued high water usage.
Wellington
Water would be dropping off fliers to offending properties if
residents continued to use sprinklers, with the possibility of
prosecutions if residents continued.
Metservice
meteorologist Lisa Murray said November was the second-driest year
since records began in 1927.
This
dry spell coincided with four of the eight bores at the Knight
Rd aquifer being out of action due to emergency upgrades,
which would usually supply around half the region's water.
But
there may be some relief on the horizon with a new UV treatment
facility at Waiwhetu Aquifer expected to be online in a
couple of weeks, which would increase the amount of water that could
be drawn.
Sunshine
hours had leapt up, with recordings from Kelburn showing hours
jumping from 180 hours last year, to 251 in 2017.
Although the
ridge of high pressure that has been sitting over Wellington for the
past couple of weeks was expected to weaken this weekend, Murray said
the the weather continues to be generally sunny and dry.
A
number of councils around the region have also put voluntary
restrictions in place for their own water usage, including limiting
the watering of parks, plantings, and the washing of cars and
buildings.
WELLINGTON
Wellington
City Council has already cut back on irrigation, but the city
still intends to keep watering its sports fields, public lawns
and plant collections.
Parks,
sports and recreation manager Paul Andrews said it would explore
other ways to save on water "if the drought conditions
continue".
It
would water by hand "where
practical", pause field renovations until
autumn 2018, defer its annual building washdowns, set sprinklers
for early mornings and evenings, and might stop or empty some
of the city's water features.
PORIRUA
Porirua
City Council will cut back on watering parks, lawns and
gardens.
In
a statement, the council's chief operating officer Tamsin Evans
said residents would see some parks and reserves quickly "browning
off".
"We
want to do the right thing and conserve water as much as possible but
at the same time we have recently invested in upgrading three of our
key sports fields; Porirua Park, Endeavour Park and Ngāti Toa
Domain, so we need to keep watering to ensure the grass establishes
properly.
"Loss
of condition would jeopardise the playing surfaces for winter and
we'd face significant renovation costs."
Porirua
Park and Endeavour Park had in-ground irrigation systems which will
operate at night. Ngāti Toa Domain will be watered morning and
evening by a mobile irrigator.
Watering
at the nursery would be done during cooler times of the day to
protect young plants being grown for next winter's
planting season.
LOWER
HUTT
Hutt
City Council parks manager Bruce Hodgins said contractors had been
instructed to restrict water usage.
A
small amount of watering was being done but only in the morning or
evening to minimise evaporation and only on a required basis.
Some
areas still required watering, including particular plants in
the Percy Reserve nursery and cricket pitches, Hodgins said.
WAIRARAPA
In
Carterton, no suspension of irrigating garden beds or washing council
cars or buildings had been adopted, with thunderstorms earlier in the
week taking pressure off supplies.
Infrastructure
and Services Manager Garry Baker said some water
restrictions were in place due to the low flow in the Kaipaitangata
stream.
"Staff
will be monitoring daily usage; if usage gets to high we will have
introduce stage two of water restriction. Stage two only allows for
the use of hand held hosing on alternate days."
"If
the situation worsens, we will then activate stage three, which would
see a complete hosing ban."
"Due
to the low river flow, we have already started irrigating wastewater
to Daleton Farm. This started on 11 November which is at least five
weeks earlier than the last three years. This proves what a dry
season we are already having."
KĀPITI
COAST
On
the Kāpiti Coast, it is unlikely that water restrictions will need
to be introduced this summer.
Infrastructure Services group manager Sean Mallon said water consumption across the district had reduced since water meters were introduced in 2014.
"People are now more aware of their water consumption and, as a result, peak water consumption has reduced by more than 26 percent."
Mallon said this had helped the council secure more than enough water to manage even the worst drought conditions.
"If we have an extremely dry summer we can call on our bores to recharge the river if river levels get low, but this will not require us to apply water restrictions."
Infrastructure Services group manager Sean Mallon said water consumption across the district had reduced since water meters were introduced in 2014.
"People are now more aware of their water consumption and, as a result, peak water consumption has reduced by more than 26 percent."
Mallon said this had helped the council secure more than enough water to manage even the worst drought conditions.
"If we have an extremely dry summer we can call on our bores to recharge the river if river levels get low, but this will not require us to apply water restrictions."
In
Lower Hutt our previously pristine water has been permanently
chlorinated. All this has been put down to the earthquake but it is
likely that this was human error for which there has been a major
cover-up.
It
is amazing how quickly things can fall apart.
Things
can seem to be normal until they are not. This is the nature of
trigger points. Things change seemingly under the surface until
something happens and ‘suddenly’ you have a full-blown crisis on
your hands.
One
example is the nation’s waterways. Those of us of a certain age can
remember clean rivers where we could swim and didn’t have to worry
about putting our heads under water. We knew, in recent years, that
we had a problem but this has in the last year of an extreme
neo-liberal government and the takeover of the country by dairy
become a serious crisis that is now being written about every day.
So
it is with our local community.
Lower
Hutt, and especially Petone, has had some of the purest aquifer water
anywhere in the world and people came from many miles around to fill
their bottles at a communal tap.
9
October, 2017
The
cost of treating Lower Hutt's contaminated water supply has escalated
to $11 million, with a 1.5-kilometre pipeline needed to divert water
away from the Waterloo treatment plant.
E-coli
had been found in water drawn from the Waiwhetu Aquifer, which goes
to the plant, on three occasions since late last year, and an
increase in coliform bacteria was also detected.
With
an investigation unable to determine the cause of the problem,
Greater Wellington Regional Council agreed to continue permanent
chlorination and ultra-violet (UV) treatment of the water, at an
up-front cost of $4.6m.
However,
further investigation has revealed the amount of "misty"
water not suitable for UV treatment is higher than first
thought, and that water will have to be shifted elsewhere via a
pipeline.
Cause of Lower Hutt water contamination still unknown
Earthquake damage possible source of E-coli in Lower Hutt water
Hutt authorities to continue treating water
Boil water notices plague West Coast
Power cuts likely cause of E-coli contamination
Misty
water, which is generated by bore pumps when they first start up,
appears the same as clear water, but contains particles which can
mask potentially harmful organisms during treatment.
Wellington
Water, which carried out the investigations, had hoped the water
could be diverted to the nearby Opahu stream or stored at the
treatment plant until it ran clear, but it underestimated the volume
of water it had to shift.
"As
the programme of work has progressed, the costs associated with the
diversion of the 'pump start-up water' escalated quickly," the
report said.
"Multiple
approaches to managing the significant volume of water were
considered during the design phase.
"However,
the only viable option involves the construction of a 1.5km pipeline
from the bore field to Te Awa Kairangi/Hutt River."
The
Waterloo plant supplies water to up to 240,000 people across
Wellington and Lower Hutt, Wellington Water group manager for
network, strategy and planning Mark Kinvig said.
Four
bore pumps in the Waterloo wellfield, along Knights Rd, are still out
of action due to the water they pump being contaminated, and it is
hoped they will be operating again in time to meet summer demand.
The
first of two UV units needed to return to full operation was
installed earlier this month, with the second to begin operating once
the pipeline is constructed, hopefully by January.
Of
the additional $6.4m required for the pipeline, $4.2m will be taken
from the council's planned 2017-18 spending, including $2.7m from a
resilience project aimed at ensuring the Wellington region has dual
water supplies in an emergency.
The
$60m offshore bores project involves exploring potential aquifers off
the Miramar peninsula that could serve Wellington in an emergency
such as a large earthquake.
The
project is an alternative to the proposed $105m cross-harbour
pipeline, which would run from the Hutt bore into Wellington city.
The
$2.7 to be borrowed had been earmarked to set up a monitoring bore at
a potential aquifer site, but that will be pushed back to 2018-19,
the report said.
One
potential aquifer had already been identified but the water tested
contained harmful chemicals which would have been too expensive to
treat.
The
other $2.2m needed for the pipeline will be debt funded.
Likewise
there is talk that these plans that will destroy a natural area in
Wellington City have more to do with general problems rather than
just the hospital and may only be partially to do with the
earthquake.
Judging
by the disrespect shown by some friends it seems that some people
prefer to take official pronouncements literally.
I
have learned to take nothing for granted.
Plans for a new emergency reservoir in Wellington are progressing, despite no decision over whether ratepayers will have to cover its $25 million cost.
Wellington
City Council will start public consultation next month over its
proposed 35-million-litre reservoir at Prince of Wales Park, which
will provide emergency water for Wellington Regional Hospital if the
capital is struck by an earthquake.
Iona
Pannett, the council's "three waters" portfolio leader,
said designs had been completed and a resource consent application
would be lodged in November for the long-awaited project.
Talks
were continuing with Capital & Coast District Health Board over
whether it would help to pay for the project, which was yet to be
resolved, she said.
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